Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese Migrants in Rome

A participatory fieldwork and social research for development on

Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese

Immigrants in Rome

Research Supervisor

Dr. Vanda Altarelli

Dipartamento di Sociologia e Comunicazione

Facoltá di Scienze della Comunicazione, Universitá degli Studi di Roma ―La Sapienza‖

Research Team

Ms. Francesca Pacifico, Italy

Ms. Maya Siag, Palestine

Ms. Gloria Alvarez, Guatemala

Mr. Ecaw Tendeng, Senegal

Mr. Sébastien Tendeng, Senegal

This participatory fieldwork and social research project in part of the Second edition of

the International Course of ―Applied Anthropology and Development Processes‖

organized by Dipartamento di Sociologia e Communicazione, Universitá degli Studi di

Roma ―La Sapienza‖ and the Italian Foreign Affair Ministry (MAE)

October 2009- February 2010

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Table of Contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………3

Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………4

Context ……………………………………………………………………….…………8

Main Trends…………………………………………………………………………….11

Conclusions & Recommendations ……………………………………………………25

Annex ……………………………………………………………………………...……27

1. Persons Met ………………………………………………………………….…27

2. Data Collection Instruments …………………………………………………..28

Questionnaire Format ……………………………………………………28

Focus Groups checklist with answers …………………………………...34

Interview format with answers …………………………………………..52

Life story ………………………………………………………………...55

Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………57

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Introduction

This report on Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese Immigrants in

Rome is a participatory fieldwork and social research for development. It was prepared by

five students from the second batch of the course in Applied Anthropology and

Development Processes which took place in Rome, from October 2009 to February 2010.

This research was undertaken to provide insights in the processes of integration of the

Senegalese migrants in the Roman cosmopolitan context. Our study analyses the socio-

economic and multicultural integration of this group, based upon the importance that the

evolution of immigration from Senegal to Italy has acquired during the last decade. This

participatory fieldwork aims to answer who are the Senegalese immigrants in Rome, why

they are here, which challenges they face; and their perceptions on what is needed to be

done for fostering their integration.

The majority of the Senegalese immigrants in Rome is here mostly to improve their

economic conditions since (according to their own judgment) back home the

opportunities to achieve such success are highly limited. Social mobility in Senegal

becomes extremely difficult for the common citizens since there is lack of job

opportunities, compounded by lack of financial and natural resources necessary to build

sustainable livelihoods.

We aimed at understanding and evaluating the level of social and intercultural

relationships Senegalese migrants might establish with regards to work opportunities,

educational improvements, language acquisition, religious activities, cultural challenges

and the degree of integration they manage to establish.

Upon their arrival in Rome, these immigrants face a new environment where different

peoples with different backgrounds, behaviors and cultures, blend together to coexist in

one of the most multicultural cities in Europe.

The economic and cultural process that the Senegalese immigrants find here is constantly

challenging their minds and their cosmo vision building a new identity with new and

unknown paradigms that eventually end up becoming part of their lives in the ―cittá

eterna‖.

To achieve this research, a sampling was designed comprising Senegalese immigrants at

all levels of the social scale. Qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection have

been used ranging from questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Since integration is

closely related to immigration, one of the most important tasks of this work consisted in

understanding and analyzing the challenges described above. Consequently, our main

objective is to positively contribute to better integration and well-being of these

immigrants who have taken the challenges and the opportunities of starting a new life in

Rome.

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Methodology

A mixture of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Questionnaire and Focus Group

instruments has been used as the methodology of appraisal, analysis, planning, action,

management and evaluation of the fieldwork for the Senegalese case, because the goal of

the PRA tools is to involve people as active creators of information and knowledge, to

raise their awareness and setting a more appropriate research agenda. (Altarelli, 2009)

To distribute the different PRA tools, we chose two forms for obtaining information:

1. A Questionnaire: distributed among 23 Senegalese immigrants at their

workplace, houses or the Senegalese embassy.

First we built our questionnaire using tools such as Income and Expenditure Matrices, to

understand the sources of income and expenditures as well as to reveal the incentives,

needs and challenges of the Senegalese immigrants in the labor aspect of the Rome

society.

We shaped the language and form of the questions using the Appreciative Inquire tool

from which we were able to make questions that were ―provocative propositions‖, which

would help us in identifying the goals of the Senegalese immigrants who come to Rome.

Questions like ―Do you feel more Senegalese or Italian?‖, ―Have you accomplished the

goals you had back home?‖, and ―How would you improve the Italian immigration

system‖, were asked for this purpose. AI was also a useful tool to identify the

participants´ strengths, recognizing them as resourceful and also to measure their capacity

of adaption.

Then, the research group went to places where we could locate Senegalese immigrants

whether it was in their work places, such as Ottaviano where most of the Senegalese bag

sellers work, or in the area of Pigneto which is a neighborhood with a high concentration

of Senegalese immigrants.

Since our research group includes two Senegalese members, they could tell by their

appearance if a person is from Senegal, thus approaching them by speaking Wolof or

French, and introducing the group and the research, asking the person if he/she could give

us some time to ask some questions for the research’s purposes.

The questionnaire was written in English, but was orally translated into Wolof, French

and sometimes into Italian. We asked the questions in the language that the respondent

found most comfortable to answer us and then we filled the questionnaire ourselves.

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After approaching these first two places, we decided to visit the Senegalese embassy.

Thus we were able to extend our sample and our results, because in the embassy we

found immigrants with other occupations and who lived in other parts of Rome rather

than Pigneto.

The respondents’ sample varied between men, women, age, marital status and their legal

or illegal status. Some were newcomers, and others have spent more than 10 years in

Italy.

2. Four Focus Groups clustered different socio-economic sectors from the

lowest income class (bag sellers) to the upper-middle class of Senegalese immigrants

(such as the Catholic Association of Senegalese immigrants in Rome).

Aside with PRA tools, we made a Focus Group Checklist using the Sustainable

Livelihoods Approach which helped us to identify the variations among the Social

Capital of the Senegalese immigrants. Their networks and connections, their relations of

trust, formal and informal groups, neighborhood leaders, people who recommend them

for a job and their brotherhood system among others, were results obtained with this

checklist. To enhance the interaction and debate among our participants, the questions

were also structured as provocative propositions.

We were also able to identify the Human Capital among this community, with respect to

their levels of education, knowledge and skills and their capacity of adaptation.

Connected with the human and social capital, our questionnaire and our Focus Group

checklist also contained questions concerning their Financial Capital with respects to:

remittances, access to bank savings and additional forms of income.

As regards to the Physical Capital, we also asked during our focus groups whether the

transportation system of Rome was easy to use for illegal immigrants.

From the Sustainable Livelihood Approach, we found that there are three major

Vulnerability aspects affecting the Senegalese immigrants which are: the global financial

crises, the new policies of the current Italian government and the new immigration

policies of the European Union.

The literature that we reviewed thus contains information about the immigrant’s

integration in the European Union, the particularities of the Italian immigration system

and how does it affect the specific case of Senegal and also we researched literature on

the background of the Senegalese immigration in Rome, as well as writings about its

evolution and cultural challenges.

To assure the accuracy of our results (and also to confront some works with outdated and

sometimes inaccurate findings), at each step of our fieldwork, we compared our

participant’s answers with those of the authors who have previously studied and analyzed

the integration of the Senegalese in Italy.

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During our questionnaire and Focus Group interviews, we also used Direct Observation

as a complimentary tool to write down our perceptions and interpretations, which were

then inserted in our final conclusions.

The details of our focus groups are:

Focus Group 1: Gender: Female. Religion: Catholic and Muslim. Two Senegalese

baby- sitters and two household helpers ladies. Ages range from thirty- to-fifty years old;

Interviewed in their house located in Nomentana. The contact was established from

Senegal. Duration: 3 and half hours.

Focus Group 2: Gender: Male. Religion: Muslim. A soccer player, one jewelry

salesman, one artist and one construction worker; Ages ranging from 17 to 38 years old;

interviewed in the Senegalese Embassy while waiting to be attended. Duration: 1 and half

hours.

Focus Group 3: Gender: Male. Religion: Muslim. Ten Senegalese bag sellers. Ages

ranging from 24 to 57 years old; interviewed in their house located in Pigneto after

working hours. The contact was established after meeting one of the bag-sellers in

Castello di Santangelo. Duration: 4 hours.

Focus Group 4: Gender: Female and Male. The seven members of the board of the

Senegalese Catholic association, including: one salesman, one tourist agent, one catholic

priest, one baby sitter, two university students (male and female) and one housewife.

Ages ranging from 32 to 50. The contact was established through the baby sitters that we

met previously. They were interviewed in the house of one of them, on the day of their

monthly meeting. Duration: 4 hours.

In general, the cooperation from the participants was highly satisfactory. But it was more

difficult to expand the exercise in focus group 2 and 3 where sometimes some of the

participants had to abandon the session and then return.

We then used the SPSS software to insert and organize the data from our questionnaires

and Focus Groups to systematize the data gathered.

Our main tool to analyze data and establish tendencies was Triangulation. We

crosschecked the information obtained across the different Senegalese groups and we

also contrasted individual answers obtained within the same group. We provide charts

that contrast these differences as well as qualitative conclusions.

As for our limitations, before starting our research we thought of dividing the population

according to first, second and third waves of immigration to Italy. But after analyzing the

results of the first fifteen questionnaires and the first two focus groups, we discovered

that actually the level of integration of the Senegalese immigrants does not depend on the

time spent in Rome or on the age of the participants. In fact, we found out that their level

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of integration usually depends more on the economic and social activities they manage to

develop.

We also avoided making a Venn diagram because we found out that the interaction

among different social actors of the Senegalese community is not as strong as we

thought.

The focus group checklist that we intended to distribute among Senegalese children born

in Italy was instead adapted to make an interview with an Italian-born young woman with

Senegalese parents.

Her name is XXX and she is 24 years old and we were able to contact her because we

met her father during our fieldwork days at the embassy. After the school in Pigneto

replied saying that they do not have any Senegalese children studying there,

unfortunately we were not able to find another primary school to talk with Senegalese

children considering the time limits to complete this research.

Finally, some of the people whom we tried to contact did not reply, including a staff from

a UN agency, and an African art event.

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Context

Since the colonial period, Senegal has experienced a long tradition of both inflow and

outflow of migrants, mainly related to economic reasons, in particular because of the

occasional downfalls of the traditional agricultural system. It produced the following

historical pattern: first, internal rural-urban migration in Senegal, then the sub-regional

migration within West Africa (especially towards Gabon, Ivory Coast, etc.), next the

international migration within Europe (from France to Italy) and finally, a change of

direction of emigration from Senegal with migrants coming directly to Italy.

Senegalese migration to Italy began in the 1980s with migrants coming initially from

France and later directly from Senegal. Most of them in the 1980s and 1990s were Wolof;

coming mainly from the north-western regions of Senegal. The year 1989 was that of the

boom of Senegalese immigration and of Senegalese internal migration within Italy. Many

Senegalese, who had previously worked in the south, began moving to the richer, more

industrialised north.

Until now there is a very important increase in the migrant presence: from 27,500 people

in the 1990 it became more than 40.000 in the 1999 and this number is continuously

increasing. Nowadays there are 67.510 Senegalese people residing legally in Italy making

this community:

-the most numerous one, among all the migrant community of the sub-Saharan countries,

followed by Nigeria and Ghana;

-the third African one, after Morocco and Tunisia;

-One of the first fifteen foreign communities in Italy.

The most important incentive for their stay is job seeking (about 85%) and further less,

familiar reasons (13%).

However, this data doesn’t include the great amount of irregular persons who according

to the Italian Embassy in Dakar, ought to be more than 200,000 units. The majority of

them are the so-called ―overstayers‖, Senegalese citizens who come with a regular

expiring visa but, who after the expiration date, they can barely achieve the sufficient

requirements to stay in the national territory for longer: these are likely to be the 70% of

all the actual clandestine migrants in Italy.

The easiness to entry into the local borders and the possibility to be employed in the huge

informal labor market (which opened up specific niches for immigrant employment), are

some of the most relevant reasons that make Italy being considered a sort of dreamland:

easy to reach and to get rich it became through time one of the most attractive gateways

to the Western world and consequently, the favorite destination for any transnational

migration.

In spite of its own migrant past, the current debate about Italian migration is one of the

most controversial ones in whole Europe, especially in what concerns to immigration

policies and the growing of a racist attitude among the local people.

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Opinion polls indicate that Italians have mainly negative and stereotyped views of

immigrants and there is disturbing evidence of growing racism.

Further inflows of immigrants are likely, whatever policies Italy attempts to put in place.

The Bossi Fini Law

The current law concerning immigration issues is known as the ―Bossi-Fini‖ Law named

after the names of the politicians who proposed it. It came into force on the 26 August

2002, it amends the 1998 immigration law as well as the Turco-Napolitano law and it

introduces new clauses. The most significant aspects of the law are as follows:

-each year, before the 30 November, the Prime Minister will lay down the number of

non-EU workers who can be admitted into Italy in the following year.

-there are no limitations to entry into Italy for highly-skilled workers.

-other non-EU immigrants will be allowed entry into Italy only if they have a 'residence

contract' (contratto di soggiorno) - ie a contract of dependent employment signed by an

employer (a firm or a family) and the immigrant worker. The contract must provide for

accommodation and the payment of travel expenses for the workers to return to their

country of origin. When the contract expires, the immigrant worker must return to the

country of origin.

-a specific immigration office is be set up in each province of Italy to oversee the entire

recruitment procedure for immigrant workers on both open-ended and fixed-term

contracts

- when their residence permit is issued, immigrant workers must provide their

fingerprints;

-after six years of regular residence in Italy, non-EU citizens with the necessary economic

requisites to sustain themselves and their families will be able to receive a form of

permanent permit instead of a temporary residence permit;

-irregular immigrants will be deported and accompanied to Italy’s borders. Deportation

will be immediate and will not be suspended even if the immigrant appeals to the courts;

-suspected illegal immigrants stopped by the police will be taken to specific centers

controlled by the police. The authorities will try to discover their identity during the

following 60 days. If they are found to be illegal immigrants, they will be ordered to

leave the country within five days (a period they must spend in the center). If they fail to

do so, the illegal immigrants will be arrested for between six months and a year or

deported and accompanied to the borders. If illegal immigrants return to Italy, they will

be arrested and tried by the courts.

Furthermore, the last effort to regularize the immigrant situation in order to foster their

socio-economic conditions is the so called ―Accordo d’integrazione‖(Integration

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agreement), proposed by the current government after the last harsh episode of

intolerance in the south of Italy. The law applies for all regular immigrants and it consists

in granting integration ―points‖ to acquire the residence permit.

During a period of 2 years, they must collect a total of 30 points in order to stay in the

country, passing through several compulsory steps: demonstrate that they have learnt

Italian language (in a A2 level), to know the national Constitution, to subscribe to the

Public Health System, and to have their children attending public school.

In addition to the Bossi-Fini rules, to validate their own successful level of integration,

immigrants basically should become more Italian then the Italian themselves.

Nowadays immigrant people in Italy are about 4.5 million and they represent the 9.5% of

the national GDP.

Considering these facts, it is hard to imagine a day without migrant people working here.

However, Italians will have an occasion to experience it to some degree, this next 1st of

March at Rome, when we will witness the first immigrant strike in the story of this

country.

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Main Trends

1. For the majority of Senegalese immigrants’ integration means: Being in a

foreign and far place. Adopting the culture and the way of thinking of the

people of the new nation by relating with them (specially the language)

including learning to live by their set of rules.

It does not mean to get completely inside because as long as there is a sense of

solidarity, integration will happen. However, integration is a process that

cannot happen without the recognition and acceptance of the local people of

this far and new place.

Integration is the process through which, over time,

newcomers and hosts form an integral whole. For this to

begin to happen, newcomers must be encouraged—and

assisted—to weave themselves into the host community's

economic fabric as soon as possible after arrival. In that

regard, the first objective of integration should be to

enable newcomers to get the fairest possible returns on

their human capital investments and thus contribute as

early and as fully as possible to community life. Economic

and labor market assimilation, however, is only the

starting point of integration. While pursuing effective

economic incorporation, newcomers, hosts, and the social,

cultural, and political institutions of the receiving

community must also engage the much harder task of

shaping their now-common space. (Papademetriou, 2003).

Successful integration is not determined solely by the

actions immigrants take and the resources they possess.

The reception—supportive, neutral, or negative—they

receive from the host community plays a critical role.

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You must behave as a pleasant person. You must not try to be smarter than an Italian or

more astute. Then they’ll like you. You must be humble and open minded.

2. The majority of the Senegalese immigrants, especially those in the lowest

socio-economic status, do not feel integrated in Rome. And the ones who feel

integrated have developed economic and social activities that go beyond their

occupation. However, most of them have acquired some behaviors that are

Italian.

The majority of the respondents (74%) say that the way they behave in public is

more Senegalese.

But this number rises. A larger majority of them (91%) say that the way they

behave at home is more Senegalese.

The majority (87%) also says that the things they do in their free time is more

Senegalese.

The large majority (91%) said that the personality of other members of their

family is more Senegalese.

Almost half of Senegalese immigrants (44%) say they dress like an Italian also

because they like dressing well.

Almost half of them (47%) say that they have an Italian attitude towards women

rights and gender equality.

More than half of them (70%) say that their way of doing business is more Italian.

The majority of bag-sellers (85%) said they don’t feel integrated.

The majority of bag-sellers said they watch TV and sleep in their free time.

The minority (35%), who said they do feel integrated, are not bag-sellers.

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It is hard to access legal documents. If you work without papers, your bosses exploit you,

they don’t pay you as much as the law requires and you have not an assured job where you

work. That is why the majority of Senegalese illegal immigrants end up selling bags in the

streets. They cannot find anything else to do without the papers.

3. The majority of the money that Senegalese immigrants are earning in Rome goes to

remittances, bank savings and personal savings. Furthermore, they hardly invest any

money for their own education, health and leisure.

We know that all these relationships depend a lot on what we will bring back when we

return back home. If we come back empty handed, we will be doomed and rejected.

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4. The majority of the Senegalese immigrants are in Italy to improve the living

conditions for their families back home. And in Italy they live modest lives.

The majority (70%) said they haven’t improved the quality of their house.

More than half of them (70%) said their income is higher now than when they lived in

Senegal, independently of their current occupation.

The majority of them (83%) said they have raised their social status.

A large majority of the participants said they send remittances back home (82%).

Nearly all the participants (96%) say they want to move back to Senegal some day.

The majority (91%) said they want to help Senegal to develop.

Nearly all the participants say that they want to run their own business back home

someday (87%).

A large proportion of them (70%) want to help other Senegalese to come to Europe.

Before going back home we just want something more. Buying a house of my own, a business

of my own. We are here but our hearts are back in Senegal.

When you come here to find a new life, and you go back home with nothing, the first ones in

insulting you will be those same ones to whom you were sending money all along. No one

will help you. They think that you just came here to play, to party.

5. Most Senegalese indicated that they cannot find jobs in their field of expertise.

I studied pastry in Senegal and here I cannot work in my profession, therefore I am

working as a babysitter.

I tried in 5 different job posts to get a job as a tailor which is what I worked on back

in Senegal. Since I was not recommended and I am black, the all told me “we’ll call you

back” but never did. So now I work as a cleaning lady.

In Senegal I was an athlete, here I am a bag seller.

Back home I studied international marketing at the university and I worked as a secretary.

Here I am a hairdresser.

In Senegal I used to work in transport logistics. Here I am a bag-seller.

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6. Senegalese immigrants do learn Italian because it becomes the only language that can

be used in their jobs.

While language learning is a primary task for many

immigrants, the processes involved may differ by race and

ethnicity, gender, age, and educational level (Pavlenko

2001; Kouritzin 2000). The reason is a simple one. The

learning of a new language requires exposure to others

speaking the language, continual repetition, training in

vocabulary and the rules of syntax. Through formal and

informal mechanisms, the immigrant will, over time, shift

from telegraphic speech to the ability to fully use and

manipulate the language.

Almost half of them (49%) say they speak Italian.

More than one fourth of them say they read and write Italian, 27% and 25%

respectively

Italians usually don’t know any other language. So if you want to get a job, you must learn

theirs. That’s the major reason why we learn it.

You can speak perfect Italian and not be integrated at all. And it could also be that you don’t

speak one word of Italian but you are fully integrated. It depends on the person.

The integration process becomes slower if you don’t learn the language. And it is faster if

you care to learn the local language; especially in Italy where the majority of people only

speak Italian.

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7. The brotherhood connections that exist back in Senegal are maintained and even

enhanced here in Rome by all of them, but in particular by the Muslims.

Almost all the studies on Senegalese migrants stress a very

strong sense of solidarity and a cohesive, group-centric

organization (e.g. Campus, Mottura and Perrone 1992,

Schmidt Friedberg 1994). Such a mode of organization is

believed to provide newcomers and job- seekers with

advice and financial help.

This communitarian lifestyle is also found within

households ruled by hierarchical and age criteria, and the

fair distribution of duties. Such trends will, of course,

hamper language learning. Similarly, both male and

female immigrants may form kinship and friendship

networks with persons from their same country of origin

(Goldstein, 2001). The Mouride movement seems to be

developing continuously in Italy

Almost half of them (48%) said they are involved in community activities

Here in Rome, the relationship among Senegalese people is stronger than back home. Here

they feel more the need of being together and helping each other because they are in a

foreign place.

Here it is easier for Senegalese people to mingle. Maybe back home they wouldn’t talk to

each other because of old disputes or different religions and regions. But here all of that is

forgotten and there is only one label: Senegalese.

17

We know 2 associations: One only of ladies regardless if they are Muslim or Catholic. We

gather on the second Sundays of each month. And we eat together, we chat, and we collect

money that is used whenever one of the girls is in need. The other association is composed

only of Catholic Senegalese members. We get together on each third Sunday of the month.

Each one of us prepares a dish that can be Italian or Senegalese food. We talk, we dance,

and we have good time. Each time can be in on of our houses or in a special place.

8. Discrimination, which has increased during the period of the current Italian

government, is pointed by the majority of Senegalese as the main obstacle to get a better

skilled job and to further integration.

For migrants to contribute fully, they need to be

effectively integrated into the labour market.

Paradoxically, at the same time that migration is

increasing in importance, there is worrying evidence that

integration results are less favorable than in the past.

Immigrants are generally more exposed to long-term

unemployment and social exclusion, as well as poorer

working conditions and temporary employment.

Before arriving in Rome, more than half of the respondents (57%) said that they did

not expect to be discriminated

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In Senegal, whenever there is a problem between a foreigner and a Senegalese, the police

always approach first the foreigner to support him and ask him if everything is ok. But

here, the “carabinieri” come in without knowing what exactly happened, they grab you

and put on you the handcuffs. Even if the Italian guy was the guilty one, their first instinct

is to think that you are the one to blame. Why don’t they ask first?

Here, it has a lot of influence what the people see on the TV and the news. And they

always portray us as an evil menace. So everyone ends up thinking that.

If you are well dressed in an expensive way, they won’t buy your stuff because they will

think that we are rich. And also if you go well dressed to Termini, for sure the police will

stop you to ask you where you got the money to dress like that. They treat you as a

criminal whose selling drugs or something to get those clothes.

Whenever you have a job you are not safe. At any moment you can loose it just because

you are not Italian but black.

These discriminatory practices are exacerbated by the economic and financial crises

which makes even legal immigrants more vulnerable since they are the first to lose their

jobs

I was working as a security agent on a company but at a certain moment five persons

were fired and we were all Senegalese and the only immigrants working there. And we

were very competent in our work.

People from Bangladesh are lucky in having work in Italy due to their light complexion.

If you are a white girl from Eastern Europe without papers here in Rome, they surely will

take you over a black girl even if this black girl has a legal permit to be here. Italians like

people who look like them. They don’t think that much about the documents.

I knew a Senegalese guy who married an Italian girl. She got pregnant and her parents

were so afraid that the kid might be black. Because this world is cruel to black people.

That’s what they said.

I also knew a Senegalese married with an Italian guy. Their son has never met his

grandmother back in Senegal, because his Italian father says that over his dead body, his

kid will go to Africa. He does not want his son to ever go to Africa. Because he says that

in our continent there is only violence, corruption and drugs. As if in Europe this wasn’t

the case as well.

In Italy it is not like in other countries. The children of foreigners are not Italian citizens

when they are born in Italian territory. They must wait until they are 18 to acquire the

nationality. Therefore, they are not considered as an Italian child even legally.

19

If your mother is Italian, you have better chances of integration than if your father is

Italian. You have more rights and you acquire the citizenship more easily.

If you are the child of a black and white marriage, your status is better if your mother is

the white one and your father is black. The other way around, makes you more

discriminated.

And if your parents are both Senegalese with legal documents, you still don’t enjoy an

equal status as an Italian child. Is better to be the kid of a mix marriage than a kid of a

Senegalese couple with legal documents.

9. The majority of Senegalese agree that the second generation immigrants integrate

without major problems in Italians schools.

Integration is a two-way process in which newcomer and

established residents share responsibility for the well-

being of one another and of the broader community.

Yes they do integrate well at school. And they find Italian friends. The mother must always

remind them where they come from, and then they do not forget. They must integrate in

school and have Italian friends but without forgetting where they come from.

I have an aunt with two kids. She put them in school here. And now they say “What do I have

to do with Senegal?” “What do I care what goes on in Senegal?” Just as the Senegalese

people go to meet the family of their Italian partner, they should do the same because we

have nothing to be ashamed of.

10. The majority of Senegalese agree that in Rome there is no religious discrimination

whatsoever, and that in the case of the Muslims, they always felt welcome to practice

their religion freely.

Italy and Rome have a huge past of religious toleration. If I would be appointed to choose an

international religious city, I would choose Rome.

Religion is not a problem. It is more important the lack of organization between Senegalese

people because all the organizations for Senegalese here in Rome, are only religious ones.

There is no space for us to talk about other important issues: politic and economic problems

that we all have.

Being a Catholic does not give you any advantage here in Rome. It does not integrate you

easily. Because actually, Rome is a highly tolerant city; In fact it is easier for the Muslims

because their sense of unification and organization is higher than the one of the catholic

Senegalese.

20

When a catholic has a problem he doesn’t speak to anyone about it. Catholic are not

educated to think collectively back in Senegal whereas Muslim are. This is why we have this

association; to bond more among ourselves.

11. The majority of Senegalese immigrants think that mixed marriages can be a positive

attribute for integration as long as both persons respect each other’s cultures.

Mixed marriages are a good thing. And it is very important because in Africa marriages

signify a bond between two families. And they start being friends. If two families are friends

they marry their children to strengthen their bonds and if Senegalese people marry Italians,

21

your start a bond. You begin to have something in common. Your paradigms slowly go down.

It is a good thing.

My cousin was married with an Italian girl and after two years they got divorced because

they don’t have the same way of seeing life. For example, you cannot imagine a guy in

Senegal doing the cooking or changing diapers.

For me the concept is just one: love. Where there is love, the cultural barriers do not exist.

But in fact the Muslim Mourides marry more Italians than Catholic Senegalese because in

their religion your status rises when you bring someone new to the religion. But of course in

this case the clash of cultures does not exist because the Italian girl ends up adopting the

Senegalese traditions and Islam religion fully.

Mix marriage for me is not a matter of integration. It becomes very material actually. It must

go beyond that: it is all about love. But here, people marry Italians to get the legal papers. It

is all material. And that’s why there is no real integration going on because at the end, is just

a matter of convenience.

12. The majority of the Senegalese say that their integration is also difficult because the

Senegalese institutions back home and here in Rome do not support them.

The first negligence comes from the Senegalese government because they should have a view

of the importance of the immigrants. We inject a lot of money into our country’s Economy.

Both Italian and Senegalese institutions should work for us. But the initiative should come

first from our government. They should not exclude us, so this way the Italian government

would also facilitate things for us.

It is both the Italian and also the Senegalese institutions who do not want more immigrants

here. The people working for the Senegalese institutions here in Rome see us as a menace for

their own jobs and people. And the Italian institutions convince Italian people that we are a

plague who steals their jobs.

The Senegalese embassy does not function well. They just give good public image but in

reality they do not do that much. They seem to forget they are here to help us.

I know the case of a lady who left back home her husband and his son. She came to Italy to

work and she died here. And the embassy did not do anything when they claimed her body to

be buried in Senegal. They said this could not be possible. Because even if the lady was legal

here in Italy, she forgot to do the recognition procedure in the embassy, so therefore they

couldn’t do anything and she was buried here far from her country.

In the embassy here, they pay no attention to us. They do not care about their own people

who are here. If they do not help you in the embassy, how are others going to respect you?

22

13. The majority of illegal Senegalese, who said that they don’t feel integrated, have also

a low multicultural interaction. They only relate with Italians at work, and they hardly

relate with other nationalities.

23

The majority of Senegalese with legal papers, with a high skill occupation, said that they

establish a higher multicultural interaction. They relate with Italians and with other

nationalities beyond work affairs, and have a broader variety of activities.

14. The majority of Senegalese immigrants stated that the 4 main challenges to

better their integration are: facilitate the access to legal papers, eliminate

discriminatory attitudes, facilitate the access to better skilled jobs and facilitate the

access to decent housing.

Italy is very involved in stopping immigration. They are all aware that before, Italy was the

country to come and make money back home. They should look around them: countries like

Belgium for instance, who are more tolerant and cooperative with immigrants.

24

That money (Foreign Aid money) never goes to the people who need it. Ours does. The help

of all those NGOs is not felt by the people who need it. Ours does.

The governments of our country only care about having good diplomacy with Europe. They

do not care for their people. The failure of our governments is what brought all of us here to

Europe in the first place. If they are not efficient with us, the Europeans should consider this

and treat us immigrants better.

25

Conclusions and Recommendations

After, this fieldwork research, we experienced that even if a migration group comes from

one same country, the people who take the challenge of living abroad (in this case, the

Senegalese of Rome), constitute an heterogeneous group of people rather than a unitary

one, possessing distinct personal and social endowments who migrated under disparate

circumstances.

Our main findings demonstrate that there are different stages, different contexts, different

forms of organization at the beginning of the migratory chain, different backgrounds of

class, urban or rural culture, and of religious attachment. (from a low income to a

sustainable life, from Muslim to Catholic Senegalese, the brotherhood interaction of the

Mouride as well as a strong link of relationships back home and the challenges of

networking and integrating in Rome)

Moreover, since a transnational circulatory model of migration is seen to be successful, it

tends to be imitated. (such is the case of the Mouride) Finally, having an ambivalent

audience to

respond to, and a multi-polarized context to leave from, a Senegalese ―transnational

community‖ can manifest itself in many different ways.

Senegalese showed a more disaggregated configuration than the anthropological defined

―community‖ of representations (this is one of the reasons why we didn’t make a Venn

Diagram). Two apparently contradictory yet coexisting narratives inform Senegalese self-

representation: a dominant discourse of solidarity and a hidden discourse of autonomy

and individuality.

Furthermore, after perceiving the differences in needs, desires and ways of living only

within the Senegalese community, we can assure that initiatives such as the Bossi-Fini

law and the ―Accordo d’ integrazione‖ cannot pretend to legislate in a ―one size fits all‖

way, the integration of all the nationalities who coexist in Italy to achieve a sustainable

life.

The needs of the immigrants in Rome go beyond the four standards of: public schooling,

health services, and language and constitutional mastery of the Italians.

It is well known that the most of foreigners, who managed to apply and regularize their

position via flows, decree quota, were already living in Italy. They were very lucky: they

found employers that decided to apply to a long bureaucratic procedure.

More specifically, the Senegalese immigrants have expressed that what they mostly need

to be integrated is the permanent and constant recognition as a fundamental part of the

Italian social and economic system.

26

The main obstacle to achieve these needs is the evident intolerance and exclusion

perceived in Rome. As long as there is an atmosphere where the immigrant’s rights are

―legitimately‖ violated, any attempt of ending racism through laws, will be useless.

With the current lack of faith and credibility that has risen about international aid and

development, the European authorities should keep in mind more than ever, that the

principal motor of development of a country is its own people. Any attempt to hamper

and marginalize those who have left everything behind to better their family’s lives is

also a direct attempt to slow down the development of their home country.

Insisting on giving handouts to third world corrupted governments, and frustrating the

means of survival that third world immigrants have found to succeed, is a double menace

for the achievement of sustainability.

Laws that vaguely state ―what to do‖, ignoring ―how to do it‖, will hamper the process of

integration for the Senegalese in Rome, and also for all the immigrants in general.

27

Annexes

1. Persons met Our interviews have been done with the collaboration of Senegalese immigrants in the

periphery of Rome in Italy. The sample of our questionnaire shows its originality in the

different occupations held by the persons we have met in the field.

Down ― Pigneto ― with a large number of the bag sellers, that constitute the majority of

our sample, the baby sitters and house holders at Momentana, in the Senegalese embassy

with persons that have different types of occupation, the Senegalese catholic association,

and also at Tiburtina with the participation of one Senegalese student born in Italy .

This diversity allows us to have an amplified picture and opinion on the conditions of

Senegalese migrants in Rome, but also to study their socio-economic and multicultural

aspects.

The participants were very cooperative in answering the questions and we notice that in

terms of education, the bag sellers are less educated than the others and they cannot

afford to have jobs related to high level of education in Senegal and even in Italy. Most of

them migrated in Italy because of economic reasons, the majority is illegal and they live

in bad conditions. Selling is the only activity that they can work in to survive. They don’t

feel integrated in Rome. Their objective is to make money and go back home.

In contrast, the baby sitters and house holders have at least attended and sometimes

completed their high school degree. They migrated in Italy with a contract of

employment upon arrival. Nevertheless, they don’t feel integrated. But their legal status

allow them to have an acceptable living condition and a permanent job that incentives

them to always extend their stay in a legal way. The point that makes them unsatisfied is

that they cannot practice their cooking profession in Italy because of the present scarcity

of job and sometimes for racist reasons.

Their situation is quite similar with that of the member of the catholic Senegalese

association in the immigration system and conditions of living in Rome.

The picture we can have in the interview made in the Senegalese embassy is that, all the

participants feel integrated because a part from their job they have other extra activities

and the size of their income is also considerable. They are principally in contact with

Italians in their activities and during their free time but they are strongly attached to their

African identity.

The Senegalese student feels integrated first because she is born in Italy, and she has the

Italian nationality. In one world she is Italian, an Italian who feels sometimes

discriminated, and strongly attached to her Senegalese culture too. She is educated to

never forget where she is from. She considers the immigration as a positive aspect to the

host country because it constitutes the beginning of mutual cultural exchanges.

She deplores the condition of certain Senegalese immigrants who are suffering because of

the lack of legal paper, and suggest sensitizing the Africans in general for them to know

28

that coming to Europe is not the solution to get rid of poverty and to achieve well being.

For her, the best thing to do is to invest in their own country weather it is difficult or not.

2. Data Collection Instruments

Questionnaire Format

Social and Multicultural Integration of the Senegalese Immigrants in Rome.

Questionnaire

Thank you for your participation. Your information will be used only for academic

purposes of this research and your name will never be disclosed to anyone.

1. Gender: Male _____ Female _____

Occupation: ________________________

Religion: _________________________

Year of Birth: __________________

Place of Birth: _____________________________________

2. How long have you been living in Rome:

More than 20 years

15 to 20 years

10 to 15 years

5 to 10 years

1 to 5 years

3 months to 1 year

less than 3 months

3. How often do you contact family and/or friends back home?

daily _________

weekly __________

monthly _________

once a year ____________

I haven’t contacted people back home since my arrival ____________

29

4. Marriage status

Single

Married __________ or divorced _______or union _______ with:

a. Italian person

b. Senegalese person (living in Rome)

c. Senegalese person back home

d. Other nationality (living in Rome) _______ Nation ____________

5. Living conditions

Who do you live in Italy with?

Alone

with spouse

with spouse and children

with children as a single parent

with friends or colleagues___ or other families___ Nation/s: ____________

With nuclear and at least one member of extended family

6. Languages

Languages that you speak and/or read; and/or write:

Language Speak Write Read

Wolof

French

Italian

English

Other:

7. School level:

• Primary School level _____________ Completed: yes _____ no___

Studied in: Senegal _________ Italy__________ other ______________

• High School Level _____________ Completed: yes _____ no____


• Vocational Colleges______________________ topic___________________

• University level: _______________ Completed: yes _____ no____


Career studied and degree obtained:

___________________________________________________________

30

Income:

8. How much do you earn monthly?

1. less than 300 Euros ____________

2. from 300 to 500 Euros __________

3. from 500 to 800 Euros __________

4. from 800 to 1,200 ______________

5. more than 1,200 ______________ Amount __________

9. How many hours do you work on a day?

1. less than 5 ____________

2. between 5 and 8 ____________

3. 8 to 10 hours _______________

4. more than 10 hours __________

10. Do the earnings from your job represent the totality of your monthly income?

Yes _________ No__________

11. If no, please check which other sources of income do you receive?

Salary of members of family living in Rome _________

land ownership _______________ in Senegal________ in Italy ______

Government help ______________

Secondary Job ___________ occupation: _____________

Other: _____________________________________

12. How much of your income do you use for:

Remittances _____________________

Bank savings _____________________

Personal savings __________________

Living expenses in Rome (rent, electricity, phone, food) ___________

Education for you or family members in Rome ____________

Medical expenses (of you or family members in Rome) _________

Leisure time _____

Other _________________________

13. Secondary Income Sources

Do the earnings from your job represent the totality of your monthly income?

Yes _________ No__________

If no, please check which other sources of income do you receive?

Salary of members of family living in Rome _________

land ownership ____in Senegal___in Italy __

Government help ______________

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Secondary Job _________occupation: ______

Other: _____________________________________

14. What do you do in your free time and where do you go?

15. Please check the nationalities with which you have most contact with and for which

purposes:

Regions At home At work Community

activities

Religious

activities

Free time Other

Italian

Senegalese

Bangladeshi

Latin

America

South East

Asia

Central

Asia

Arab World

Africa

East Europe

If you have contact with a nationality that you can’t identify, please ask our survey guide.

16. Please check the areas of Rome where you most frequently go to and the purpose:

Regions At home At work Community

activities

Religious

activities

Free time Other

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17. What do you think are things needed to be fully integrated in Italy?

Yes No

Knowing the Italian language

Having a university degree

Having an income of at least 1,000 Euros a month

Celebrating Christmas and/or other traditional Italian holidays and events

Eating Italian food

Dressing like an Italian

Participate in Italian politics

Having children born in Italy

Having Italian friendships

Having friendships with other nationalities

Having contacts with the first wave of Senegalese immigrants here

Living in a neighborhood lived majorly by Italians

Having my whole family living in Italy

Owning a business

Listening to Italian music

Being married to an Italian

18. According to the previous statements, do you feel you are already integrated in

Rome?

Yes _________ No ________

Why?

19. Do you act more like an Italian or more like a Senegalese in what respects to:

Italian Senegalese

The way you dress

The way you eat

The religious practices

your political opinions

your attitude towards

women rights and gender

equality

The way you behave in

public

The way you behave in

your home

The way you do business

The personality of other

members of your family

The things you do in your

33

free time

20. Now that you are here, have you accomplished (or do you still think you will

accomplish) the goals you had back home, in what respects to:

yes no this wasn’t a personal goal for me

Quality of my house

Bringing all my family to Rome

The size of my income

Rising my social status

Rising my level of education

Not being discriminated

Relating with Italians

Relating with other immigrant groups

Relating with religious communities

Involving in community activities

Becoming Italian citizen

Moving back to Senegal some day

Helping my country to develop

That my children are equal to other

Italians

Run my own business in Senegal

Helping other people migrate in Europe

21. If you could better the Italian immigration system; what would be your three

priorities?

1-

2-

3-

22. Do you have a legal permit to live in Italy? Yes No

If yes, when does it expire?

34

Focus Groups Checklists

Focus Group 1. Baby Sitters and Cleaning Lady.

1. Is it hard to get a Job in Rome? Why?

Yes and even more in this period. Maybe we find a ―good‖ job in the sense of the

labor you must make, but the payment is not the expected one. The crisis and the

paranoia with the crisis have made things more difficult for us. It is hard to find

the job that one would like to have. For instance, finding a job in a Hostel or a

restaurant which is what two of us would like to have becomes really hard for the

fact of the crises, added to the racism; since some people now in Italy blame the

intensity of the crisis to the immigrants who supposedly come here to ―steal‖ the

jobs of the Italians.

-I studied pastry in Senegal and here I cannot work in my profession, therefore I

am working as a babysitter.

- You also must be recommended by someone to get a job. And it is hard to find

such persons.

- I tried in 5 different job posts to get a job as a tailor which is what I worked on

back in Senegal. Since I was not recommended and I am black, the all told me

―we’ll call you back‖ but never did. So now I work as a cleaning lady.

Italians do not trust someone who doesn’t look like them. The first thing they ask

to the person who recommends you is ―What country is she from? Is she Muslim

or catholic? Is she black? Is she Brava?‖

2. Is there a difference between being a legal and illegal immigrant here in

Rome? How? Why?

-In the way we treat each other, we are all equal.

-But the difference comes in the kind of jobs you can access. If you are illegal it is

harder to find someone to recommend you and then to take you. Obviously it is

harder without documents to find success here. In the 1990´s it was not like right

now. Back then it didn’t mater that much if you had papers or not. But with the

government of Berlusconi, things have gotten harder and harder for immigrants in

general but even more for the illegal ones.

But one thing is the law and the other things are people’s perceptions. For

example if you are white girl from Eastern Europe without papers here in Rome,

they surely will take you over a black girl even if this black girl has a legal permit

to be here. Italians like people who look like them. They don’t think that much

about the documents.

3. Do most of Senegalese immigrants learn fully the Italian language? Why?

Yes they do learn it but not in schools or with courses. Most of us learn it in the

street or the job. It’s not that the courses are expensive. For example Caritas does

it for free. But at the end we don’t have the time to keep up with the routine.

- For instance in my first year here, I worked with a lady who wanted to

learn French and wanted her kids to learn French. So for my first year here

35

I didn’t learn the Italian language. And then I learned it through the TV. as

most of us do.

- Italians usually don’t know any other language. So if you want to get a

job, you must learn theirs. That’s the major reason why we learn it.

4. Do most Senegalese immigrants adopt the Italian eating habits? Why?

Yes because pasta is really easy to make. I personally love spaghetti.

- It is also very cheap. We get here one pack of pasta for one euro.

5. Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why?

The majority of our friends are also Senegalese. With other nationalities including

the Italians, we can say Hello! Ciao! But that’s it. The relationship does not grow

further majorly because they are not interested in getting to know us.

-I have no Italian friends. Maybe in my workplace I speak to one or two of them

but I have never found any Italian interested in meeting me.

6. What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress?

Is nice. With various tastes. We like it.

7. Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants?

Yes it is very easy to use. And it is a good advantage that you don’t have to show

your ID card at the moment when you buy your metro or bus ticket. Thus, illegal

immigrants can move freely around Rome.

8. Does it have any impact the fact that Rome is a Christian city? How?

Actually Rome doesn’t feel like a catholic city.

- My mom dreams of coming to Rome, to the ―most Christian city in the

world‖ as we all think before arriving. But even if you are a believer, once

you are here, you really don’t notice that this is a Christian city.

This is also an advantage, because in Rome there is no such thing as religious

discrimination.

9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants

in Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How?

We do maintain our traditions just like in Senegal. We celebrate marriages in the

church. But we also do what we can. We can’t behave completely as we do back

home. We are not in our country. We don’t dance in the street as we do back

home when we are celebrating a marriage because Italians don’t like it.

- In fact the last August 15, when we celebrate the Virgin’s day, our Italian

neighbors called the Carabineri because we had the music too loud here in

the house. That would never happen in Senegal on this day.

10. Is there a Strong relationship of Brotherhood among the Senegalese

immigrants? How? Why?

Yes we know 2 associations. One, only of ladies regardless if they are Muslim or

catholic. We gather on the second Sundays of each month. And we eat together,

36

we chat, and we collect money that is used whenever one of the girls is in need.

For example if her housing contract ended, or if she gets married, r if a relative

back home got sick; we use this money to help each other.

The other association is composed only of catholic Senegalese members. We get

together on each third Sunday of the month. Each one of us prepares a dish that

can be Italian or Senegalese food. We talk, we dance, and we have good time.

Each time can be in on of our houses or in a special place.

11. Is it stronger here or back home?

It is stronger back home because sometimes here people just don’t have enough

free time as to get together and take care of each other. But we at least try to talk

to each other over the phone.

-Even when you are sick in the hospital you notice that you will only receive

visits on Sundays because that is the day people are freer. Then on Monday, no

one is there.

12. Do you know of many Senegalese who have married Italians? Have Italian

partners? What do you think about mixed marriages?

Yes we do know of some mixed marriages. And we think is a good thing. Of

course it all depends on the mentality of the Senegalese person and of the Italian

person in question.

- Senegalese people, I think do not have any problem with Italian culture.

They can respect it and adapt to it. But the Italians sometimes have

problems with us.

- I knew a Senegalese guy who married an Italian girl. She got pregnant and

her parents were so afraid that the kid might be black. Because this world

is cruel to black people. That’s what they said.

- I also knew a Senegalese married with an Italian guy. Their son has never

met his grandmother back in Senegal, because his Italian father says that

over his dead body, his kid will go to Africa. He does not want his son to

ever go to Africa. Because he says that in our continent there is only

violence, corruption and drugs. As if in Europe this wasn’t the case as

well.

13. What does the word Integration mean to you? Can you describe the

characteristics of a Senegalese who you think is integrated?

Frequent Italian people. These Senegalese persons, make Italians understand that

they are just like them. That there is noting to fear. But it is not good to forget

where one comes from. And many people, who integrate, then do not want to go

back to their country.

- We would return gladly and immediately if we knew that we had a chance

back in Senegal. But a lot of Senegalese forget this.

- Before going back home we just want something more. Buying a house of

my own, a business of my own. We are here but our hearts are back in

Senegal.

37

- We live with fear. We left all our family there. I just spoke with my

daughter today and she told me her teacher gave her some money. I don’t

know what for. And being here makes me unable to act immediately.

- What we are looking for is a better job. As a house keeping leady I earn

way more here than back home. And when you come here to find a new

life, and you go back home with nothing, the first ones in insulting you

will be those same ones who you were sending money all along. No one

will help you. They think that you just came here to play, to party.

14. Do Senegalese who are integrated loose their identity? How? Why?

More or less.

-I have an aunt who is in France but she has never spoken to us again. Most of the

people, who integrate themselves, end up changing. When they get what they

want they don’t go back. I am one person here in Italy, and I am another one back

in Senegal.

- The people who integrate then just go to Senegal and then return to Europe.

They just go for vacations. They don’t think of staying forever.

- I know one lady whose sons grew up here; at the end she still went back to live

in Senegal but the sons decided to live in Italy.

We must educate our children. We must tell them where they come from and the

importance of their heritage.

I have an aunt with two kids. She put them in school here. And now they say

―what do I have to do with Senegal?‖ ―What do I care what goes on in Senegal?‖

Just as the Senegalese people go to meet the family of their Italian partner, they

should do the same because we have nothing to be ashamed of.

15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in School? How?

Yes they do integrate well at school. And they find Italian friends. The mother

must always remind them where they come from, then they don not forget. They

must integrate in school and have Italian friends but without forgetting where they

come from.

-My cousin has acted like that and her son now feels Italian and Senegalese.

16. Is it easy to maintain the friendships and family relations back home, when

living in Italy?

Yes it is. We all speak to them often. But at the same time we know that all these

relationships depend a lot on what we will be bring back when we return back

home. If we come back empty handed, we will be doomed and rejected.

17. Are there many Senegalese Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is

their purpose?

Go to question # 10.

18. Are there many Senegalese/ Italian Associations here in Rome? Which ones?

What is their purpose?

Not that we know of.

38

19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay here permanently?

Some yes some not. Depends on the job they find here. The better the job, the

least is their will to go back home. (Refer to question # 13)

20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to

Senegalese immigrants? How do your rate the support of each?

There aren’t really institutions which really provide support the Senegalese. The

embassy of Senegal does not do their duty.

21. In which areas do you think Senegalese immigrants need support to integrate

better in Italy?

They need help to find places to work and most of all the need of changing the

racist mentality of the people here.

If the embassy of Senegal actually helps people with their documents and papers,

I haven’t seen it.

- I know the case of a lady who left backs home her husband and his son. She

came to Italy to work and she died here. And the embassy didn’t do anything

when they claimed her body to be buried in Senegal. They said this could not

be possible. Because even if the lady was legal here in Italy, she forgot to do

the recognition procedure in the embassy, so therefore they couldn’t do

anything.

22. Who should provide this support? In which ways? Are there any cases?

The support should come first from our own embassy. But if not even our

embassy respect us, the Italian authorities of course won’t support us.

There was once a boy in the embassy who did work for the people he did care. He

helped a lot of people with their documents and papers and finding jobs for them.

He did a lot to have contact with the Italians. But now he’s gone.

People here in the embassy treat us bad. They jell at you.

They have no consideration whatsoever. If the bad treatment starts from there,

how can we expect that things will change?

Housing:

Yes it is hard because the landlords put many restrictions. And they don’t like to

rent to black people.

-In our case, is fine because now I own this house. But still there were many

restrictions on how many people could live here and so on.

39

Focus Group #2. Embassy of Senegal.

Football player 17. Jewelry seller 35. Artist. Construction worker 29.


- It is very hard because of the migrant situation

- Even it is also hard to the Italian to find a job

- It can be difficult but for me I don’t have this problem.


Rome? How? Why?

- If you want to do a worthy job in Italia you must have papers. I am working in a

supermarket because of the papers I have. Otherwise I may be selling bags in the

street. But I am regulated since January and I am still waiting to get my Italian ID.

(But whenever I have the ID I will move to another country maybe London)

- Personally it is because of my situation that I have this job. I have legal papers

and an Italian wife.


- I learn Italian because I am still studying and I need the language to

communicate with my friends in the football team.

- In my job I have contact with all the nationalities. I learned Italian and other

languages because as a permanent job I work in a supermarket. And since I am

an artist I need English too. In my free times I read Italian and English books.


- For me I live with other Senegalese and we specially eat Senegalese.

- I live with Italian and I get used to their food

- Sometimes I go to other friends to eat food from Senegal but at home its mostly

Italian food.


Yes you must behave as a pleasant person. You most not try to be smarter than

Italian or more astute. Then they’ll like you. You must be humble and open

minded.

- I am the only African in the team and all the Italians treat me nice.

- In my job I deal with all nationalities Spanish, French, German, Italian. And I

get along very well with all of them because I respect my business and I

respect them.


-Yes I try to dress like them.

-If you come to a country you must act as they do.


- I wouldn’t know. I go everywhere on the team’s bus.

40

- For me the transportation is better in Dakar than here. Here it takes 45 minutes

for a bus to arrive. It takes too much time.


We have never felt discriminated for being a Muslim. Never.



It depends on who do you marry. If you marry a Senegalese women you will

obviously maintain more traditions than if you marry to an Italian girl. But we

always have to keep in mind no matter what that we are in another place and that

we must re adapt ourselves.



- Here in Rome, the relationship among Senegalese people is stronger than back

home. Here they feel more the need of being together and helping each other

because they are in a foreign place.

- But not only that. Here it is easier for Senegalese people to mingle. Maybe back

home they wouldn’t talk to each other because of old disputes or different

religions and regions. But here all of that is forgotten and there is only one label:

Senegalese.


It is stronger here. (Refer to question # 10)



- Yes I think it is a good thing because a lot of prejudgments are thrown down.

And eventually if there are family links between two cultures, then the tolerance

among them grows and they can live peacefully.

- I am dating an Italian girl. And sometimes it is embarrassing because people

look at us in the street thinking: why is she doing with that black guy?

But I don’t care. For me it is easy to be with a white girl. I like more her mentality

than the one of a girl back home.

- I am married with an Italian women and she become Muslim. My kids when I

will have them will be Muslim. And I want my kids to speak Wolof, French and

Italian. We are equals and we don’t have any culture problems.



It is to be in a far country away from home from a long time. Becoming Italian.

Adopting their culture, their way of thinking. You just need to get to know them

to integrate with them.

41


No. they don’t loose their identity. Because we all love Senegal and we could

never forget where we come from even if we tried to.

-I cannot forget the people of my color.

- We want to go back. My wife has visited Senegal.

- Maybe we don’t go back to live there. But to go and to return. To visit the

family and the friends is always important. We can make money here in Rome, go

back to visit and then live in Europe.


Yes they do.

- I am going here to language school and they all treat me as an equal.

- I have given art classes to Senegalese and other immigrant children here in

Rome, and they all are happy in their school. They are treated well and

equally.


living in Italy?

Yes it is. We speak to our families back home weekly. We are always aware of

their needs and lives.


their purpose?


- I don’t contact many Senegalese here.

- I deal with Senegalese for business only.



Not that we know of. But there must be some.


No we think that most of them want to stay here but always with the mind of

going back to visit.



The embassy does not function well. They just give good public image but in

reality they don’t do that much. They seem to forget they are here to help us.


better in Italy?

In the labor area. Because it is hard the access to legal documents. And without

those it is hard to get a good payment job. If you work without papers, your

bosses exploit you, they don’t pay you as much as the law requires and you have

not assured job where you work. That is why the majority of Senegalese illegal

42

immigrants end up selling bags in their streets. They cannot find anything else to

do without the papers.

It is both the Italian and also the Senegalese institutions who do not want more

immigrants here. The Senegalese institutions see us as competition for their own

jobs and people. And the Italian institutions convince Italian people that we are a

plague who steals their jobs.


Both Italian and Senegalese institutions should work for us. But the initiative

should come first from our government. They shouldn’t exclude us, so this way

the Italian government would also facilitate things for us.

43

Focus Group # 3. Senegalese Bag-Sellers. Pigneto.


- It depends on the person. Because there are people who can give you a job but

there are others who exclude you, even if you have a god economic status.

- It is hard in the sense that whenever you have it you are not safe. At any moment

you can loose it just because you are not Italian.

-I was working like a security agent in on company but at a certain moment five

persons were fired and we were all Senegalese and the only immigrants working

there. And we were very competent in our work.

-It is because of the international crises and the European system in general which

has adopted a new strategy; that is, to invest in Africa to avoid the high rates of

taxes. And of course there will be a scarcity in jobs.


Rome? How? Why?

- For the white people it is essential to have an Italian ID. If you give your

Senegalese ID they respond that this not a paper

- There is no difference between being legal or illegal because only by your

immigrant situation you cannot pretend to have a job like that of an Italian person.

- People from Bangladesh are lucky in having work in Italy due to their light

complexion.


God help them in this sense because I speak Italian better than French. Most of us

learned French and Arabic courses but Italian is very easy.

- Knowing the Italian language is essential it is the beginning of integration for

communication.

- If we don’t learn that language we cannot be in this country

- I suffered in my job because my Italian is not so good. I was obliged to stop the

Italian courses because of the lack of time

- We are all obliged to learn it very well for our job of bag sellers.


It depends on the environment in which you live. If you live with them you will

have the tendency to eat their food. But it’s better for the Senegalese to keep their

traditional food


- The persons here are not treated equal. If I find a person who behaves kindly

with me, I reply in the same way. Here in Italy, if the person is intelligent and

open minded, he will make friendship with you. If he doesn’t want to because he

rejects you, then there is nothing much you can do.

- In Senegal, whenever there is a problem between a foreigner and a Senegalese,

the police always approach first to the foreigner to support him and ask him if

everything is ok. But here, the carabineri come in without knowing what exactly

44

happened, they grab you and put you the handcuffs. Even if the Italian guy was

the guilty one, their first instinct is to think that you are the one to blame. Why

don’t they ask first?

- And then is the same in the airport. There can be a 100 white people coming off

an airplane, and no one stops them. But if there are two back persons, for sure

they will get stopped and their bags will be checked

-I found a job in McDonald’s just because I was lucky enough to find friends who

helped me.

-Here, it has a lot of influence what the people see on the TV and the news. And

they always portray us as an evil menace. So everyone ends up thinking that.

-Some times it is not possible because there are some parts in Italy where colored

people are not accepted to live.


The Italians have a culture of dressing well. This is one level that you must

control if you want to get integrated. There are Senegalese who are only here to

make money and leave. They don’t care about integrating or making relations.

But there are also those who come here to integrate even in that sense. And there

are others who go to another extreme, copying Italians in everything.

-But if you are well dressed in an expensive way, they won’t buy your stuff

because they will think that we are rich. And also if you go well dressed to

Termini, for sure the police will stop you to ask you where you got the money to

dress like that. They treat you as a criminal whose selling drugs or something to

get those clothes.

-Maybe this is because the Italians think that we live under a bridge, or that

back in Senegal we don’t have any of the kind of things they have here.



There is no struggle or clash between religions here in Rome. We can all practice

our religion freely.

- Italy and Rome have a huge past of religious toleration. If would be appointed to

choose an international religious city, I would choose Rome.

- None of religious discrimination was felt until three years ago with Berlusconi’s

government because before, I even had friends who were carabineri.

Religion is not a problem. It is more important the lack of organization between

Senegalese people because all the organizations for Senegalese here in Rome, are

only religious ones. There is no space for us to talk about other important issues:

politics and economic problems that we all have.

- On the last 5 of October 2009, there was an incident here. And a Senegalese

person got arrested unfairly. None of the other Senegalese got involved to help

him. Not even the embassy. But the Italians, who live here, went to the police and

denounce this as unfair.

45





Go to question # 8


Go to question # 8



- Mix marriages are a good thing. And it is very important because in Africa

marriages signify a bond between two families. And they start being friends. If

two families are friends they marry their children to strengthen their bonds and if

Senegalese people marry Italians, your start a bond. You begin to have something

in common. Your paradigms slowly go down. It is a good thing.

-Mix marriage for me is not a matter of integration. It becomes very material

actually. It must go beyond that: it is all about love. But here, people marry

Italians to get the legal papers. It is all material. And that’s why there is no real

integration going on because at the end, is just a matter of convenience.

-To be married to another culture, depends on the specific people who are getting

married. It can be difficult for someone like us who always have the dream to go

back home. If you get married here, this dream may be forgotten. And your kid

doesn’t know if he’s white or black or what. Here there are two interests that

confront each other.

- Lot of Senegalese marries Italian girls. I would say that 90% of those marriages

split due to a clash of cultures. My brother married a Senegalese girl back home

and an Italian girl here. But in Senegal, the man controls the women. Here in Italy

is the woman the one who ―pulls your ear to her will‖

And also, the sons product of such marriages, are never treated equally as a 100%

Italian blood boy. The children from this marriage are never considering Italian. Is

better not to mix things.



To be integrated in Italy, you don’t need to be completely inside the whole

system. You just need to adopt certain things. Like for instance, the Italian

language.

There should be a sense of solidarity for our efforts. Italians should stop and think

that we are not like them. Two people in one house. We are living in houses with

other 20 people. We are to work to help our families, no to steal. We are doing

everything we can.

46

What do you think of the contradictions of the European Union, with all the

international organizations and the money for aid that goes to help Africa,

and the discrimination they have against the Africans who come here to

work?

- That money never goes to the people who need it. Ours does. The help of all

those NGOs is not felt by the people who need it. Ours does. The governments of

our country only care about having good diplomacy with Europe. They don’t care

for their people. The failure of our governments is what brought all of us here to

Europe in the first place. If they aren’t efficient with us, the Europeans should

consider this and treat us immigrants better.

-Italy is very involved in stopping immigration. They are all aware that before,

Italy was the country to come and make money back home. They should look

around them: countries like Belgium for instance, who are more tolerant and

cooperative with immigrants.

–Here when the people are in the train and they see you, they grab their bags

closer to them because they feel we are going to steal them.


Go to question 13.


Go to question 12.


living in Italy?

Yes it is. They are the main reason why we are here.


their purpose?

Go to question # 8.





Yes they do in the beginning but it all depends on the quality of life they get to

have in Rome. The richer you get, the easier you forget about going back.



Go to question 22.


better in Italy?

Go to the question about international aid and governments.

47


The first negligence comes from the Senegalese government because they should

have a view of the importance of us, the immigrants. We represent a lot of money

for our country.

In the embassy here, they pay no attention to us. They don’t care about their own

people who are here. If they don’t help you in the embassy, how are others going

to respect you?

Is like in the embassy, they just forget that they are here to help us.

-It is not the lack of men. The problem is they just care of themselves. On that

incident of the 5 of October, no one form the embassy or the consulate showed up

to help. They didn’t talk to the carabineri.

-We advise people from Senegal not to come here without a plan like we did.

Come here if you want…but to study, or with a job offer upon arrival.

Immigration from Senegal should stop. We come here from Africa to work

because back home there is nothing to do. But I don’t feel better since I got here: I

work a lot, I feel tired, and I am aging faster. If there would be just a little chance

of making progress back I would definitely go back without a doubt.

48

Focus Group # 4. The Catholic Senegalese Association of Rome.

La Associazione di Senegalese Cattolici di Roma, (The Catholic Senegalese association

of Rome), consist of a diverse group of immigrants of this country, who get together one

Sunday a month To talk about topics of common interest, eat Senegalese dishes, share

time together. It includes many families, adults, children, members of the Catholic

Church and even people from the embassy.

We spoke with the committee of the association; each one of them with a different task

among the group. They are organized nationally (Italy) and regionally (Rome). We spoke

with the National, President, General Secretary, the cashier and the secretary’s assistant;

as well as two members of the association: one Senegalese priest and a baby-sitter.

They organize parties, dinners and lunches. Their objective is to enhance the networking

of the Senegalese people here in Rome by having a good time altogether. They also try to

help the Senegalese immigrants who are here illegally by acquiring their legal status.

The members include people who have been here as long as 17 years to people who just

arrived in Rome. They include people from all economic status who amount to almost

100 members.

Why did you choose Italy?

- I came here to study.

- I came here because I had a job opportunity before my arrival in Rome.

- I first was in France working, and then I came to Italy because I had friends living

here.

- I came here because my husband was working for the United Nations. Back in

Senegal I had a job but I decided to drop it to help my husband in his job.

Because there things that are not for men. Like the kitchen.

What kind of Job do you have?

I work in a tourism office.

I am studying here in Rome. (Priest and Sebastien)


2. Is there a difference between being a legal and an illegal immigrant here in

Rome? How? Why?

In this association we cannot differentiate between legal and illegal Senegalese. For us,

we all are brothers and we must help each other.

- Besides here in Italy, with or without papers, you are always treated as an

immigrant.

- But obviously the person who does not have a high intellectual level, will feel

more excluded because he cannot integrate himself if he has difficulties in learning the

Italian language.

Between an illegal person who has studied and an analphabet with legal status, the first

one will rapidly integrate because his mind allows him so.

- A person with high intellect without documents does many things and finds his own

path to integration. But the immigrants with low education who come to Rome, are

firstly, people who back in Senegal were already excluded from education and the

49

economic system back home. They were already marginalized. And when they arrive

here, they continue to be marginalized. If you are not integrated in your country, it is

even harder for you to integrate in another country. And this is the case for the common

citizens in Senegal.

- It is also a matter of culture. For example, catholic Senegalese send their children to

school. But Muslim Senegalese prefer to put their children to work. And when they send

them to the Koranik schools, these children are commanded to collect money for the

Marabout.

- Also a Christian cannot live with ten people in a same room; is not part of our

traditions. But Muslim people can. This is why it is also hard to find Catholic Senegalese

selling bags in the street, the majority of bag sellers are Muslim.

3. Do most Senegalese immigrants learn the Italian language? Why?

Knowing Italian is not enough to be integrated but it is definitely the most basic point to

start integration.

- You can speak perfect Italian and not be integrated at all. And it could also be that you

don’t speak one word of Italian but you are fully integrated. It depends on the person.

- But it also true that an integration process becomes slower if you don’t learn the

language. And it is faster if you care to learn the local language; especially in Italy where

the majority of people only speak Italian.

- We need to make efforts to understand Italian language but if the Italians do not make

the efforts to recognize us, reciprocity cannot exist.


The 90% of what we cook in Italy is Italian. Publicity and accessibility makes it easier for

us to adapt ourselves to the Italian cuisine. Now we eat more pasta than rice.

5.Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why?

6.What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress?

7.Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants

8. Does it have any impact on Senegalese immigrants the Fact that Rome is a

Christian city? How?

Actually, the perception that we had of Rome as the Christian city before coming here,

was very different as from the reality.

Here the people have no respect for the catholic churches. They talk on the phone inside

the church, they swear and they dress improperly. In Senegal, you must be quiet and

calm.

- I thought I was going to find more participation and practice of the faith. But in

my parish people do attend and respect. I have confessed more Christians here in

2 years than 5 years that I was in Senegal.

- Being a catholic does not give you any advantage here in Rome. It does not

integrate you easily. Because Rome actually is a highly tolerant city. In fact it is

50

easier for the Muslims because their sense of unification and organization is

higher than the one of the catholic Senegalese.

9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants in

Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How?

10. Is there a strong relationship of “brotherhood” among the Senegalese


For Muslim Senegalese the bond is stronger because their sense of unification and

organization is higher than the one of the catholic Senegalese. They help each other

when they have a problem, the collect money and they are very aware of each other

problems. Whereas the catholic, when he has a problem he doesn’t speak to anyone about

it. Catholic are not educated to think collectively back in Senegal whereas Muslim are.

This is why we have this association; to bond more among ourselves.


12. Do you know who have married Italians/ have Italian partners? What do you

think about mixed marriages?

- I prefer having a Senegalese immigrant to avoid culture clashes and racism.

- My cousin was married with an Italian girl and after two years they got divorced

because they don’t have the same way of seeing life. For example, you cannot imagine a

guy in Senegal doing the cooking or changing diapers.

- For me the concept is just one: love. Where there is love, the cultural barriers do not

exist.

- But in fact the Muslim Murit marries more Italians than catholic Senegalese because in

their religion your status rises when you bring someone new to the clan. But of course in

this case the clash of cultures does not exist because the Italian girl ends up adopting the

Senegalese traditions and religion fully.

13. What does the word integration means to you? Can you describe the


The most important thing is the acceptance and recognition of the Italians. It is very

important that you have an open mind. But is not enough; It is also important that the

people around you are open minded enough as to accept you and recognize you as a

positive aspect in their realities.

- A person, who really wants to be integrated, cares enough as to get to know

everything that has to do with Italy: its history, geography, politics, regions, social

aspects and of course the culinary aspects.

14. Do Senegalese who are integrated lose their Senegalese identity? How? Why?

- I cannot loose it. It is an advantage for me to discover the other in his culture (In the

kitchen, the touristic places which show their past history) it helps me to become

stronger.

51

15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in school? How?

In Italy is not like in other countries. The children of foreigners are not Italian citizens

when they are born in Italian territory. They must wait until they are 18 to acquire the

nationality. Therefore, they are not considered as an Italian child even legally.

- If your mother is Italian, you have better chances of integration than if your father is

Italian. You have more rights and you acquire the citizenship more easily.

- If you are the child of a black and white marriage, your status is better if your

mother is the white one and your father is black. The other way around, makes you

more discriminated.

- And if your parents are both Senegalese with legal documents, you still don’t enjoy

an equal status as an Italian child. Is better to be the kid of a mix marriage than a kid

of a Senegalese couple with legal documents.


living in Italy?

- It is easy with those Italians who never forget that Italians were once immigrants too.

Economically they need immigrants because they would never accept to do the jobs that

the immigrants do.

- The Italians who accept this are more open-minded and they are interested in being our

friends. It all depends on them. Because we, as Senegalese immigrants are always open to

make friends with the Italians. But they must want it too.

17. Are there many Senegalese associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is

their purpose?

18. Are there Senegalese/Italian associations? Which ones? What is their purpose?

19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay in Italy permanently?

20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to Senegalese

immigrants? How do your rate the support of each?

21. In which areas do Senegalese immigrants need more support?

22. Who should provide this support?

As it respects to the Senegalese embassy, we don’t think they make a good job in helping

us. Only when there really grave problems, and then the embassy gets involved. They

speak more than what they do. In paper, their performance seems perfect. In reality, they

don’t care about the people they are here to serve. If a Senegalese immigrant has a

problem, it is better for him not to rely or to wait for the embassy to help him because

they just won’t.

52

Housing Problems:

You can see all around the ads of rent which say‖ I am renting my place. But not to

foreigners‖. Rome is not ready to welcome immigrants just yet. Berlusconi has made

things even harder for us than it was before. Wherever you go to search a house they ask

you: where are you from? And how many people will live in the house.

Interview Format

Interview with Ms. XXX

Student in Political Sciences. Second Generation of Senegalese immigrants in Rome

1- FOR YOU WHAT IS THE MEANING OF INTEGRATION?

- For me it is the capability and ability, of other people coming from another

country, of trying to accept and live according to the culture, the rules, and the

political opinions of the country of immigration.

2- DO YOU FEEL YOURSELF INTEGRATED IN ITALY? WHY?

- Personally yes. Because if feel myself like all the Italians in the sense of

having papers, and a dignity of life. I mean by that a normal and acceptable

house because there are Senegalese here that live with ten persons in a single

room and this is a lack of hygiene. Of course there is some prejudice with the

colored people but I feel integrated

3- AS A PERSON WHO IS BORN IN ITALY HOW DO YOU FEEL

YOURSELF? LIKE AN ITALIAN OR A SENEGALESE?

- I feel myself as a Senegalese first because I am black. But my parents give me

that identity to understand where they came from. For sure I am not totally

integrated.

4- WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO IN YOUR FUTURE CAREER?

- I want to be a cultural mediatory.

5- IN WHICH COUNTRY IWOULD YOU MAKE YOUR PROFESSION?

WHY?

- In Italy. Because this country needs a long way to better understand the

different cultures that exist in other parts of the world. Many Italians are

ignorant of the outside.

For example wearing the VAIL is part of Arabic culture and it is not

appreciate it here. Italian must be open- minded and this is part of my mission.

53

6- YOUR FRIENDS ARE MOSTLY ITALIAN OR SENEGALESE?

- They are mostly Senegalese I cannot explain it but I am more close to

Africans than Italians.

7- DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF YOUR PARENT’S COUNTRY AND

CULTURE?

- Yes I know about Senegal and its geographical position and even the culture

of my parents that’s the reason why I am so close to Africans in general.

8- WOULD YOU LIKE TO MARRY A SENEGALESE OR AN ITALIAN?

WHY?

- Culturally I want to marry a Senegalese. But if I find someone who shares my

opinion even he is an Italian, Japanese, etc…I can marry him.

- In my dreams my husband is a Senegalese.

9- IN WHICH LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK AT HOME WITH YOUR

PARENTS?

- Most of the time we speak Italian. It happened that we speak Jola but I always

answer in Italian even if I understand the Jola languages

10- IN WHICH LANGUAGE DO YOU WATCH T.V AND USE INTERNET?

- I watch TV and use internet in Italian. But I always have information on what

is happening in Senegal through internet.

11- WHAT KIND OF FOOD DO YOU EAT AT HOME?

- Italian food since it is very easy to prepare

12- DO YOU LIKE GOING AT SCHOOL HERE?

- Yes. But I don’t know the realities in others countries concerning the

education system

13- WHAT DON’T YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL?

- Nothing special

14- WHAT DO YOU THING ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION IN ITALY?

- Immigration is always a good advantage to the host country because they gain

in term of cultural exchange and that is positive.

- In Italy it is growing very fast. But it is a natural aspect because since the

beginning of the world people always migrated. But our politicians do not see

it like a fact that can make you strong.

15- WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CLANDESTINE IMMIGRATION?

- If Africa were more developed than Europe, as far as I am concerned I could

not accept all the Europeans coming to Africa. People migrate to better their

condition of living and help their parents who live in extreme poverty.

54

- Africans must become aware and conscious to understand that Europe is not

the paradise. People risk their lives to come here and after they see that things

are not easy like they thought they would be.

- Europe is not the solution of their problems. Several interviews should be

made to show those who are back home and the conditions which people are

suffering here.

- To avoid these situations, European countries must open their frontiers to

facilitate legal immigration.

16- DO YOU EVER FEEL DISCRIMINATED IN ITALY?

- Yes. I keep in mind the days I wanted to apply for a job in one agency.

- First the interview was by phone and it was successful and they told me that

the place was available. When I went to do the formalities, they informed me

that the job was no longer available. I went back home and called again the

women who told me about the job in the first place and she said that I could

pass to the office because the position was still available. What to say about

that? It’s because I am black that they did not want to take me and this it’s not

fair

- People use to ask me: why you’re Italian is so perfect? Italian people must

know that the nationality is not a problem of color.

55

Life Story

My name is Mr XXXX, I was born in 1970. I am here since 2000 and I live in Pigneto.

Before migrating in Italy I had a good job that could help me to support my family and

my wife. In fact I was walking in logistic and transports, and I loved my work. I hesitated

a long time before coming in Italy .It was not my ambition as far as my life condition was

not so bad. I can say that my coming here depended of the pressings I received from my

friend who is an immigrant and my father who judged that I am selfish and did not want

anything in my life in the sense that when migrating I could better the condition of the

family. Let me explain you in detail.

When my friend arrived in Senegal he proposes me if I wanted to come in Italy to work

and ameliorate my situation? Of course I answer that I am not interesting in going to

another country to make my life, I have my job in Senegal and I am happy of it. He

insisted for nothing. To be honest with you I did not even go to the embassy to apply for

a visa. One day he came with my passport and told me that everything is ready, and that

when he will go back in Italy I will follow him. He used the familial pressing to convince

me to change my mind. I finally decided to come one week before the end of the visa.

The first days I arrived here they explain me the job and I realized that, that job he was

talking about back Senegal is selling bags in the street. I was disappointed and for me

there is no way to do it. If I flash back to see how was my job and I was convinced that

this kind of job is not for me. A job in which you are always looking around if the

―finanza‖ are coming to arrest you or not because of the selling bags in the street is illegal

here it’s not like in Senegal.

A week after I faced the situation. I left my job in Senegal to come here and I found a

situation that is out of my expectation, what to do now? Nothing just to abide by the rules

set by unaware immigration, which consists to face all the situations that appear as there

is no way to change the reality. So I decide selling bags like all of them. One month later

I felt myself in it. I started to earn more money that I could not imagine in my first days.

It’s not that I am lucky but because in the years 2000 up to 2005 I could make at least 500

euro a day, and this amount is when the day was not so good. I stayed for year without

papers because my visa expired after one week of my entrance in Italy. I travelled a lot

around Europe to always found the better place for an immigrant. My first experience in

56

Swiss I did not know anybody living there I was sleeping out on the pavements and one

day one kind person took me in his house at least to give me a roof. I went also to Iran,

Iraq in turkey Argentina, Belgium and Portugal.

In 2004 I have papers from Portugal you cannot know the feeling I had that day it’s a

kind of rebirth for me. Now the immigration is very difficult it is not like the years 2000

the situation is becoming harder and harder you cannot pretend to earn as much money as

in the past. You can work all the week without selling on bag this is very hard. And the

situation now is difficult with the relation with the ―finanza‖ now they are running after

us to prevent us to do our occupation. This is the law of the country but it is the only

solution for us to earn money. Immigration is now very hard, for us we taste the rest of

the good moment as we arrive by the end of selling fake marks of Louis Vuitton, Dolce

Gabanna the copy of C.D etc… In the past we put those label that we made by ourselves

on the bags. And we made the tourists believe that the bags are original and they bought

it expensively. That was our deal. Its consisted to fix the prices lower than in the shops

where you can find the original.

For me I can say that I am a little bit lucky because I introduced my documents to have

the Portuguese nationality and normally by the end of February I will receive it god

willing

57

Bibliography

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Roma, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Conferenza nazionale

sull’immigrazione.

GOLDSTEIN (Sydney), GOLDSTEIN (Alice), 1996. Jews on the Move.

Implications for Jewish Identity Albany (N.Y.), State University of New York

Press, 398 p.

KOURITZIN, S. (2000). Immigrant women redefine access to ESL classes:

Contradiction and ambivalence. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural

Development, 21(1), 14-32.

PAPADEMETRIOU, Demetrios. 2003. Policy Considerations for Immigrant

Integration. Migration Information Source.

PAVLENKO, A, AJ Blackledge (Guest Editors). 2003. Multilingua Special Issue:

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PERRONE, L. 1993, ―Cultura e tradizioni nell’esperienza migratoria della

comunità senegalese in Italia‖ (:287-307), in. Delle Donne

RICCIO, Bruno, 2000, ―Spazi transnazionali: esperienze senegalesi‖, Afriche e

Orienti 3-4.

SCHMIDT DI FRIEDBERG O. 1993, ―L’immigration africaine en Italie : le cas

Sénégalais,‖ Études internationales, (XXIX, I) : 125-140.

SCHMIDT DI FRIEDBERG, O. Islam, solidarietà e lavoro. muridi senegalesi in

Italia. Turin Edizioni della Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli 1994 XXIV ...

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Web pages visited

http://gcir.org/publications/toolkit

http://www.cespi.it/AFRICA-4FON/WP10%20Mezzetti.pdf

http://www.cespi.it/coopi-cespi/6-senegal.pdf

www.persee.fr/.../assr_0335-5985_1996_num_96_1_1049_t1_0128_0000_2

http://gcir.org/publications/toolkit

http://www.cespi.it/AFRICA-4FON/WP10%20Mezzetti.pdf

http://www.cespi.it/coopi-cespi/6-senegal.pdf

http://www.persee.fr/.../assr_0335-5985_1996_num_96_1_1049_t1_0128_0000_2

Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese Migrants in Rome

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