Serious human rights violations concerning immigrant workers in Europe : an example of the Chinese community in Italy

Abstract

The present thesis gives an insight to the most serious human rights violations connected with irregular labour migration, namely with trafficking in persons, smuggling of human beings, forced labour and labour exploitation in more general terms and in the ethnic context alike. The efforts of different actors in managing migration: the State, the individual migrant and the role of supra-national organisations are examined with the aim to direct attention away from the State security approach and towards a better understanding of the aspects of migration that are relevant to the migrant. Chinese migration, a unique emigrational system with its history and traditions has become of increased relevance to the Italian demographic composition. The presence of Chinese organised crime in immigration processes and the irregularity, latent nature and human rights violations within the Chinese community in Italy are further discussed.