RICHIEDENTI ASILO E RIFUGIATI A MILANO: LE VIE DELL'ACCOGLIENZA E LA RICOSTRUZIONE DEL CAPITALE SOCIALE INDIVIDUALE

The refugees are one of the most uncomfortable issue for nation states related to the international migrations. While for economic immigrants is possible to oppose restrictions entrance through the introduction of strict selection criteria, the movement of refugees and asylum seekers can not be programmed and hindered. The States of the rich part of the world, to continue to be considered democratic societies, must to declare themselves ready to welcome asylum seekers and refugees who come knocking at their doors. The Italian legislation, with its extreme complexity, and the treatment of welcome reserved for asylum seekers are the expressions of the contradiction between the need of social inclusion for refugees and laws on asylum increasingly restrictive. This thesis is part of the current of studies aimed to investigate the ways of refugees integration into host societies. The research approach is an analysis of the process of refugees social capital building from a micro perspective of the individual relationships. A study of the peculiar Italian situation which aims to investigate a presence, that of refugees, relatively recent and not yet organized on the territory. The research focuses on the effects of three different factors on this process : the refugees welcome system, the legal iter of seeking asylum and the refugees ethnic community. The study focuses on the specific context of the city of Milan. Milan has been chosen for the variety of its social context and the presence of different ethnic communities of refugees on its territory. The Italian welcome system for refugees is articulated in various types of structures ranging from simple dormitory to structured projects of social inclusion. The different modes of welcome can affect not only the characteristics of the individual social capital but also the opportunities to create a useful capital for a positive socio-economic inclusion. Ethnic communities have different internal relational dynamics dictated by cultural factors, structural characteristics and the historicity of the settlement. These characteristics may have an effect on the creation of different types of bonding and bridging social capital. At last the legal iter of seeking asylum negatively influences the ability to create social capital because makes difficult to take advantage of the resources and opportunities available through social networks. In conclusion the Italian asylum system doesn't provides the necessary tools to achieve autonomy. The current condition of the asylum system creates individuals who continue to be dependent on the welfare system, even when they exit from the welcome structure, without being able to become independent. The refugees usually trying to survive using the few social networks that they create through ethnic communities or within the welcome system.