European Central: Chinese Community in Italy Rapidly Shrinking
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Italy has traditionally been a country of emigrants and millions migrated to North and South America, other countries in Europe and Australia. This has slowly been changing as immigrants predominately from outside the European Union have been migrating to Italy. Italy notably has the largest Romanian, Albanian, and Chinese migrant communities in Europe. This has helped supply Italy with labor for its economy which is important due to the low fertility rate. However, immigrants are starting to leave. An example of this is the dwindling Chinese population in Prato, a city twelve kilometers north of Firenze. The Chinese community in Prato was established in the 1980s and is the largest Chinese community in Italy but has started shrinking. 10 percent of the community has already left.
Part of the reason for leaving is the economy. Besides having a high death toll, Italy’s economy shrank considerably more than many other member states in the European Union. In 2020, the Italian economy contracted by 8.9 percent. Before then, Italy’s economy has had a long period of slow economic growth and still has yet to reach the GDP per capita the nation had in 2008. The Italian unemployment rate is also the third-highest within the European Union. Other countries in Western Europe have also seen slow growth in comparison to China.
Besides economic reasons, Chinese migrants living in Italy who moved back to China were enthusiastic about China’s ability to stop the spread of Covid-19 within the nation. This included no longer having to wear face masks and the ability to work while Italy has had several shutdowns since March of 2020. Italy has been using a color-coded method to determine what restrictions should be put in place in each of the 20 regions. Yellow is the least severe, orange has some restrictions, red has the most restrictions.
Chinese migrants in Italy have faced backlash over Covid-19 due to its origin in Wuhan China, where many Chinese immigrants in Italy are from. Before the pandemic, there were numerous direct flights between Wuhan and Northern Italy. This makes sense as both Wuhan and Northern Italy are known for textile manufacturing which led to Chinese migration to Prato in the first place. 3,200 Chinese businesses make cheap clothing made entirely from materials imported from China. The largest Chinese population in Italy is in Lombardia, the same region as the epi-center of the pandemic in Italy.
Completely unrelated to the pandemic, tensions already existed between Italians and Chinese. While Italian-owned businesses in Prato have not survived, Chinese businesses are thriving in part due to their ability to evade taxes after mastering Italy’s difficult bureaucracy. There is also anger as some Chinese businesses make money off of counterfeiting products designed by Italian fashion brands. Chinese companies have also been profitable due to their use of illegal labor lowering the cost of production. This has been proven to be true after 111 raids titled “white Collars” occurred in Prato in 2016 which resulted in 15 people arrested and an additional 12 people investigated for helping illegal immigrants forge documents primarily for Chinese citizens. Despite creating profitable businesses in Prato, these profits are largely sent back to China rather than invested locally in Tuscany. This has led to anger as Chinese migrants use Italian, schools, and public services, yet do not seem to contribute to them. To be fair, Italy has one of the largest shadow economies in Europe, and Italian citizens also commit tax evasion. Besides tax evasion and using illegal immigrants as labor, there is concern that Chinese owned firms ignore safety regulations. An example of this is the death of 7 Chinese nationals in a Chinese run factory in Prato in 2013. It is believed that a portable stove was the source of the fire, which is credible due to Chinese factory owners refusing to use central heating in their factories. These Chinese migrants are also vulnerable due to the Chinese consulate seemingly unwilling to help Chinese migrants living in Italy. A representative from the Chinese Consulate claimed the Chinese government would work to improve conditions for Chinese migrants, yet the migrants doubt this themselves. When they attempted to call the consulate for assistance, the consulate hangs up on them.
Instead of just being angry over the tax evasion and success of Chinese businesses compared to Italian owned in Prato, there is also a need for compassion for these migrants. Illegal immigrants from China are generally forced to work for 16 hours a day for two years in order to receive a forged residence document (known as permesso di soggiorno in Italian). However, before these two years, these migrants must first pay off the debt it took to get them from China to Italy which can range from 10,000 to 30,000 euros. This can take from 1-3 years to pay.
Part of the challenge is building trust between Italian authorities and Chinese migrants. When Chinese migrants are victims of a crime, they do not report it to the authorities. This can include being robbed on the street or wiring services never sending money back to China for the migrants. There is also a saying “No Chinese ever die in Italy”. This is a result of Chinese deaths being unreported in Italy. Workers claim that factory owners put the bodies of dead workers in plastic bags in the dumpster and reuse the deceased worker’s residence permit with a new migrant. While Italians may believe these migrants are using public services such as schools, this is not necessarily the case. It has been reported that some children of Chinese migrants in Prato often do not attend school and instead live in the factories with their parents. If the Italian government is unable to establish trust with the Chinese community in Italy in order to improve conditions for them, the community may continue to shrink.
