Los migrantes irregulares en el Mediterráneo: El caso italiano y sus contradicciones

Although in the public debate immigration is considered as an emergency, this paper begins taking into account the real data of such a phenomenon, strongly decreased in the past 18 months. It is then examined the issue of the illegal immigrant from a criminal law standpoint, in order to overcome the idea of reducing it to trafficking, focusing rather on the human nature of each individual, always involved in the crime of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, not being the perpetrator of the said offence. In light of the above the rights in the crucial phase of immigrants' reception can be better assessed, focusing then on administrative and criminal policies. In conclusion the paper examines the rescue at sea of illegal immigrants, pointing out some contradictions of the most recent criminal policy on the issue