Social exclusion and migration: the plight of homeless people

Focus - Allegati
25 April 2022
20 minutes, 49 seconds

Social exclusion and migration: the plight of homeless people

This policy paper aims to link the phenomenon of migrants’ marginalization with that of homeless people. The conditions to which homeless migrants are subjected will therefore be examined, highlighting the forms of discrimination and social exclusion, as well as the hostile attitude of urban planning in the face of this problem. In addition to the first part dedicated to the contextualization of the theme, the following policy paper also contains a project section, highlighting in particular the positive practices implemented in different contexts of the world and proposing Mondo Internazionale as a promoter of social inclusion.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT IN BRIEF?

SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND HOMELESSNESS

What does social exclusion mean?

1.1 MIGRATIONS AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION

How migration facilitates social exclusion?

1.2 SOCIAL EXCLUSION VIA HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE

What does hostile architecture mean?

What effect does it have on social exclusion?

2. GOOD PRACTICES

realities dealing with social inclusion

3. ITALIAN PERSPECTIVES

How to improve Italian cities to avoid social exclusion of homeless people:

why is it important to have a city that grants homeless people space?
what actions can be implemented to increase the social inclusion of homeless people?
is it possible to have redeveloped cities that create spaces for homeless people?

3.1 USEFUL CONSIDERATIONS

Actions to be taken for homeless people

3.2 WHICH PROPOSALS?

what can Mondo Internazionale do?

1. SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND HOMELESSNESS

According to Eurofound, "social exlcusion" can be defined as "the consequence of a series of problems that affect an individual or a group such as unemployment, discrimination, low skills, low income, inadequate accommodation, high crime , bad health and family breakdown ". Similarly to the Eurofound definition, social marginalization is also described as the condition in which an individual is unable to fully participate in economic, social, political and cultural life due to the lack of access to the opportunities and services he would have if led a life to the fullest of his faculties and possibilities.

Already recognized as one of the main problems of the modern world, the fight against social exclusion is now the focus of the internationale debate. According to the United Nations, in fact, every person should be able to take advantage of prosperity and enjoy a minimum of well-being. For this reason, achieving social inclusion represents a challenge for the entire international community. Although there is no specific goal in the 2030 Agenda openly dedicated to social exclusion, combating social exclusion is one of the pillars of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to free all society from poverty and hunger, simultaneously developing all human faculties as a whole.

The current definition does not consider social exclusion as a simple consequence due to adverse economic conditions. This is the result of a debate that has been going on since the 1980s. The social exclusion has in fact been recognized as multidimensional: it can include different factors and appear in different forms. For example, it can appear as a lack of access to jobs or legal appeals and markets, but also as the absence of a political voice, and poor social relations. Often, however, there is a link between being socially excluded in one area of life and another. For example, social exclusion exists when certain groups are denied access to education. The difficulty in accessing education prevents excluded people from obtaining the necessary qualifications to work in one sector rather than another, generating a vicious circle of marginalization, also preventing access to a good home and creating a family according to the minimum standard. Moreover, this domino effect tends to tie people to transgenerational and hereditary marginalization. If an individual does not have access to some services, for example, there is a high probability that his children will not have access to them either. In this way, he falls into an almost perennial network of exclusion that reduces the chances of improving his life conditions and that of his family.

The definitions of the phenomenon are many, as well as its manifestations. Therefore, it is not enough to study social marginalization exclusively through a single magnifying glass, but instead it would be more appropriate to explore it in terms of links between the factors that make it up. This is in order to create a better strategy for action and resolution of the problem. Finally, the concept of social exclusion is very frequently linked to reductive or in any case limited phenomena and preconceptions (such as homeless groups or Roma communities) which outline an incomplete picture of a much more complex issue.

The impact of social exclusion on the lives of individuals is not insignificant. In this regard, it is necessary to underline the central role of the right to housing in the creation of an inclusive society. It is, in fact, recognized by both the United Nations and the European Union as a fundamental right for the development of the person and for the creation of a society that leaves no one behind. Not having housing generates many problems that can lead to marginalization because it can cause a chain reaction such as the lack of hygiene and healthy nutrition or of those important assets at the basis of economic and social security. It is therefore undeniable that individuals such as the homeless represent an alarm bell for the whole of society, because they experience the most extreme form of marginalization. Their condition is often characterized by fragility, incapacity and ignorance of their rights, as well as of the procedures necessary to exercise them. Among the most vulnerable categories are migrants, who are very likely to be homeless due to the lack of knowledge of the host country language, difficulties in accessing decent housing services, or in finding a job that allows them to have an income such as to be able to afford a decent home and the structural racism of which migrants are victims.

1.1 MIGRATIONS AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Migration is both an opportunity and a strong risk. Indeed, it can be the solution to poverty and social exclusion in one country, but it can cause such phenomena in another.

In the first case, individuals often make the decision to migrate in order to secure a better future. At the same time, migrants often send part of the proceeds of their work to their original family. In this way, they are able to keep their family members in a favorable economic position to respond to potential economic problems. At the same time, an improved economic condition compared to that of the original country does not always take the form of a tout court improvement in the arrival country. In fact, due to lower-than-average incomes, immigrants can still experience a situation of exclusion due to their economic condition. A lower income level within a high-income country, with higher living costs, leads these individuals to relocate to working-class neighborhoods which also tend to have high rates of crime or degradation. In addition to a lower quality of life, this can also lead to a further exclusion of immigrants from the society of the arrival country, generated by prejudices and situations of collective distrust. These tensions are exacerbated by the rampant xenophobia and structural racism of the host society; all factors that can sharpen the social divide between groups.

Migration represents a great challenge for the inclusive nature of a society, because the society itself could voluntarily implement policies that directly and indirectly discriminate against the immigrant community. Integration and anti-exclusion policies are fundamental. If they fail in solving the basic problems related to the reception and management of immigrants in their own territory, they can therefore exacerbate situations of objective disadvantage.

Unlike the fight against social exclusion, which is not openly mentioned by the United Nations, the migration issue is mentioned in the 2030 Agenda, in particular in Goal 10: reducing inequalities between states and within them through the promotion of social, economic and political inclusion of all citizens, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity and religion. In particular, migration policies should govern the regulation of migratory flows, making it easily manageable. According to an ISTAT report, in January 2021 there were more than 5 million migrants in Italy, about 10% of the Italian population. Due to the decrease in the average annual salary, almost 30% of these live below the poverty line, and consequently in a condition that favors social exclusion.

One of the possible consequences of this phenomenon is the loss or total absence of the economic and social assets that allow an individual to have a dignified home. Hence, immigrants are among the people who have the most chance of finding themselves homeless and without having the opportunity to live a dignified life. The correlation between being a migrant and being homeless has already been demonstrated in 2015 by an ISTAT report. The survey stated that just under 60% of the homeless in Italy are people from developing countries.

With the Pandemic, the difficulties of both migrants and the homeless have worsened, and politics and public opinion have rekindled interest and attention on the phenomenon. Restrictions to combat COVID-19 have increased the number of invisible people in society. Despite the large number of tools implemented by governments to include these individuals, there are many policies implemented to combat the phenomenon. These policies, however, do not always have an inclusive purpose, but increase the marginalization of individuals.

1.2 SOCIAL EXCLUSION VIA HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE

Another factor affecting social exclusion concerns urbanization, which has the power to improve the quality of life or to worsen it. Recently, it has become essential for municipal administrations to control public space, so as to preserve the dignity of the city and ensure its urban safety and the citizens themselves. Behind the motivations of urban decorum and safety, therefore, lies the will of the municipalities to expel "unwelcome" people. It is therefore easy to understand how homeless people and migrants are the first subjects affected by urban planning policies aimed at eliminating the aesthetic problems of cities. The urban system of a city has the power to include or exclude part of the citizens.

The term "hostile architecture" dates back to the 1960s and there are many ways to indicate this phenomenon, such as "architectural exclusion". The latter highlights the link between the architecture of society and its effects on citizens. While these policies are aimed at improving the functionality and aesthetics of urban planning, on the other hand they are techniques used to exercise social control of public space. This methodology aims to make clichés inhospitable for homeless individuals through anti-clochard spikes, anti-bivouac benches, lights and sounds (Mosquito). Many design solutions that could appear as mere city decorations, serve to prevent unwanted subjects from using the public space. Through the use of these equipment, municipal administrations are chasing a chimera. The solution for the homeless is not to remove them from the city center, or to prohibit them from sleeping under the arcades or on benches. It is necessary to intervene in other ways so that the most fragile categories of society are not constantly socially excluded.

2. GOOD PRACTICES

In Europe and elsewhere, migrants are the category most affected by homelessness. Previously, the criticalities of this phenomenon were highlighted and how municipal administrations are sometimes hostile towards homeless people. From here on we will present European and national initiatives to comply with social exclusion.

There are many realities (in Italy and elsewhere) that work to offer assistance to homeless people. The European Commission in 2013 drew up a package of social investments (European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund, Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived) aimed at encouraging Member States to adopt integration and prevention strategies. In 2021, both European institutions and governments of the member countries created the European platform on the fight against homeless. The situation of the homeless in fact violates some of the European pillars such as the right to health, dignity and the protection of human rights. Fighting the homeless phenomenon became a priority for Europe in June 2021, with the signing of the Lisbon Declaration on the European platform for the fight against homelessness, so much so that it set goals that acceding countries must comply with:

• No one should sleep outdoors for lack of accessible, safe and appropriate emergency accommodation

• No one should live in emergency or transitional housing longer than necessary

• no one is discharged from an institution (eg prison, hospital, care facility) without an offer of suitable accommodation

• Evictions should be avoided whenever possible

• no one should be discriminated against because of their homelessness

At a national level, it is possible to identify associations that actively intervene in the social inclusion sector, providing concrete help to marginalized people and sometimes forgotten by society. A first example is represented by Milan thanks to Progetto Arca, an association founded in 1994 with the aim of helping homeless people, refugees, asylum seekers and other fragile categories in promoting their social inclusion. Thanks to Housing First, the association welcomes homeless people by offering them a home, this being a primary human right and good. Through its team of experts, they support people in difficulty by facilitating access to local services and building an informal network, promoting social inclusion through a package of social support services: micro-communities. Micro-communities would help homeless people and migrants to develop and recover an active role on a social level. The Ark Project has two extraordinary reception centers, intended for those fleeing war and poverty, offering health, psychological and legal services.

CIAC was founded in Parma in 2001. It is an association that deals with reception and protection of migrants and refugees. CIAC created the Wonderful World project in 2019: a house with the aim of preventing social exclusion. The house, in addition to ensuring decent living conditions, offers a service that provides for the integration of migrants into the world of work, also providing them with language courses.

In Dublin, the DRHE association actively intervenes by preventing the phenomenon of homelessness and helping those who do not have one. DRHE aims to reduce the period in which people find themselves homeless, prevents people from needing to sleep on the street and finally guarantees a provision of ad hoc services for people in precarious situations. In order to provide services and resources, the association opted for a strategic plan that involves the central government first of all thanks to the Department of Housing, and secondly the Health Service Executive which offers care and support programs as well as funding.

Overseas, the city of Los Angeles has transformed an unused area into a colorful residential complex for homeless people. The Hope of the Valley association launched the Tiny Home Village project in 2021, following the severe crisis, which saw an exponential increase in the homeless in the city. It is a territorial requalification that combines logistic (providing a home for the homeless) and aesthetic characteristics. A real village has been created, consisting of about 100 houses, dining rooms, laundries, play areas and much more. The Los Angeles case has a problem similar to that of hostile architecture: creating a space, albeit very beautiful, dedicated entirely to the homeless, could cause a ghettoization of the latter, thus not eliminating the situation of exclusion.

3. ITALIAN PERSPECTIVES

It should be pointed out that the problem of the marginalization of homeless people has a cultural nature. Cultural traditions have generated stereotypes and prejudices that perpetuate a sense of mistrust towards those individuals who are not integrated into society, as demonstrated by the policies adopted by municipal administrations inherent in the integration process of the most fragile categories, which often prevent inclusion.

Furthermore, cities are important captors in fighting social exclusion, because they can implement national policies at the local level. The cities themselves often contribute to exclusion: hostile architecture is an example of the role that the city structure plays in the exclusion or inclusion of its citizens; simultaneously they are affected by the effects of marginalization. A city full of homeless people can appear to be a poorly livable and crime-prone city. This underlines the importance of the role of administrations in creating spaces that reduce the likelihood of their citizens experiencing social exclusion, and at the same time allow homeless people to live a dignified life in the name of redevelopment.

Creating ad hoc spaces is not enough because there is the risk of ghettoisation of the subjects. Furthermore, the creation of these spaces is neither a permanent nor a long-term solution. To resolve the phenomenon at its root, it is necessary to face it in all its aspects: from prevention to reintegration of people.

Prevention means recognizing individual vulnerabilities that could favor a type of social exclusion that could result in the loss of a home. It is therefore necessary to adopt an individual strategy based on the community needs and to intervene promptly in the initial phase of homelessness.

Once the phenomenon has been recognized, it is necessary to activate a network of services aimed at resocialization. This is one of the objectives proposed by the European Commission to tackle the problem. Italy, as a member of the European Union, has the task of aligning its inclusion policies with the objectives proposed by the Commission, which has also ensured a package of ad hoc funds.

At a national level, in practice, Italy is required to invest European funds in national and local projects that aim to combat social exclusion and promote inclusion. The strategies used previously - such as hostile architecture - are not inclusive in nature and deprive homeless individuals of urban space, producing a fictitious absence of homelessness.

3.1 USEFUL CONSIDERATIONS

After framing the desirable process for the social inclusion of homeless people from a theoretical point of view, it is necessary to analyze its practical aspect.

In Italy, nationally there are welfare measures that aim at social inclusion, and which follow the European Commission directives. These are, for example, the citizen's income and the ordinary purchasing card. Both measures aim to combat poverty and marginalization through the provision of economic support; such tools are not without gaps. Both the citizenship income and the ordinary purchasing card are dependent on the ISEE, whose request must be made electronically. Therefore, the digital transition excludes all those who do not have access to technological tools (homeless, elderly, migrants). While digitization is a necessary process, it must not be limiting and exclusive.

The provision of funds is not sufficient to eliminate poverty and the resulting social exclusion. It could also trigger a vicious circle of dependence, which does not favor the progressive autonomy (economic, housing, working) of homeless individuals. Therefore, the necessary services should not only be economic, but social.

The first step to be taken is a careful analysis of the individual needs of this group which includes people with addictions, cognitive disabilities, marginalized people, refugees and displaced persons. The analysis must be followed by an initial psychological support aimed at understanding their needs and limiting the risk of relapse. It is necessary that authorities provide dignified living space in the shortest possible time, giving these people the right to an equally dignified life. Local administrations, for their part, could redevelop abandoned areas, bringing to the attention of national administrations the issue of relocating homeless people throughout the territory. Reintegration also benefits the nation itself, as it mobilizes a series of functional mechanisms for self-nutrition and growth, giving a new life to both fragile people and uninhabited areas.

In order to develop this plan, it is necessary to provide a series of services that guarantee the aforementioned subjects not only accommodation but also human support. These services are:

Psychology: it is important that marginalized individuals have psychological support to overcome trauma and better cope with their transition towards inclusion. This service is also important to understand the evolution of these people's needs and to ensure the creation of a personalized and appropriate path for achieving a dignified life.
Medicine: physical health support is essential for developing a healthy and satisfying life. The living conditions of homeless people generate trauma from cold, eating disorders, malnutrition or physical wasting. Furthermore, the precarious hygiene conditions in which they often live can lead to infections and other diseases. For this, they should have access to a personalized medical regimen for their problems.
Self-care: it is a necessary service to sensitize these people in difficulty by making them the first operators in their development, re-educating them in personal care both in body and mind and favoring their reintegration into society. Personal care is the first step in the resocialization of these people and it is a lasting action. It must not be confused with medical action which, on the contrary, is emergency.
Civil education: having lived on the fringes of society for a given period of time, these people are supposed to be reluctant to rejoin society overnight. For its part, society itself may not be open to sudden inclusion unless these people are re-educated to live within society. With this in mind, the civil education service favors the construction of harmonious environments and relationships.
Language: as mentioned before, migrants have a high probability of becoming homeless. To encourage their integration within the community, it is also necessary to ensure them linguistic support. Knowing the language of the host country is certainly a necessary tool not only for the first integration, but also for a status change.
Education and training: to ensure the financial autonomy of fragile individuals it is important that their skills can also develop in the professional sphere. They need to be helped to develop their favorite skills while looking at job market offers. This service helps them in having a purpose in life.
Reintegration into the professional world: having obtained a certification with acquired skills, the actual reintegration within the professional world takes place. At this stage, external bodies should work together to provide a human resource mentorship service. In this way these people can find work in companies or associations.

3.2 WHICH PROPOSALS?

Social exclusion of homeless people should become a prerogative of institutional policies. For this reason, in addition to implementing the existing resources (citizenship income and ordinary purchasing card) by extending the use to a greater percentage of the population, some feasible solutions are indicated below:

Institutions could provide incentives to homeless people in order to redevelop uninhabited areas and protect the fundamental right to accommodation. They could donate part of the funds granted by the European Commission to implement the project. Since the redevelopment of brownfields is a very expensive process, institutions could launch tenders in order to rent uninhabited locations. In this way the restructuring and redevelopment costs would be zero.
The municipal administrations could organize project calls (area plans) defining a specific topic to be dealt with, for example the granting of housing to homeless people. It is necessary that these planning tables are well managed and have a defined and clear purpose. A number of sessions should be established to deal with the chosen topic together with third sector associations to find effective and timely solutions. This action would make the authorities' work effective, which by monitoring the conditions of these people, would have the opportunity to calibrate the activities based on the tangible needs of individuals. In this way, the third sector and authorities collaborate with each other by defining objectives, application times, available funds and methods of action.

Dialogue with institutions is essential for the promotion of social inclusion projects. In this regard, we have developed three initiatives to be undertaken by third sector associations:

Call for action: twice a year, the association could promote events in Italy through its social channels to collect clothes, blankets, food, hygiene and personal care products to be distributed to local associations.
To offer free face-to-face courses in Content Creator, Social Media Manager, Writing, Project Management, Event organization, to be carried out in municipal spaces. Associations and administrations should provide the necessary equipment for the course, while organizations could also be responsible for issuing attendance certificates which, although not having a formal value, still celebrate goals achievement.
Organizations or companies with a dedicated human resources division could offer a consultancy service for CV preparation, motivation letter and job placement process;

Only by working in synergy, institutions and the third sector will be able to obtain a tangible result for social and cultural change. This is the only way to create more inclusive societies.

Translated by Simona Taravella

SOURCES

Social exclusion and migration: the plight of homeless people

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