The criminalisation of migrants
01 August 2003
Research published last month in the journal Punishment & Society shows that there exists a big overrepresentation of foreigners in European prisons. Dario Melossi, of the University of Bologna, has calculated the ratio of the percentage of foreign inmates to the percentage of resident foreigners from countries other than European Union in each EU member state (see column d). The ratios vary from 2.7 times for the UK to almost 20 times for Greece. The statistics reproduced below have been updated for Statewatch by Dario Melossi.
The percentage of foreigners in the total number of prisoners (column b) is no less staggering – they make up almost 60% in people in Luxembourg’s jails, 48.4% in Greece, and over 40% in Belgium. More than one-fifth of the prison population are foreigners in Austria (30.1%), France (21.6%), Germany (34.1%), Italy (29.6%), the Netherlands (30.3%) and Sweden (21.3%)).
Melossi makes a number of points in relation to these statistics. The ratios should be considered with caution because the figures on inmates were taken eight months after the figures on residents (1 September 2000 and 31 December 1999 respectively). The resident population of foreigners may have increased during this period, producing an inflated ratio. With this in mind, it is suggested that the high proportion of foreigners in a prison population reflects “criminalisation” as much as “criminality”. In Italy, for example, foreigners are ten times more likely to be stopped by police on foot and the ratio of convictions to imprisonment appears strongly related to social status. In addition, EU states have created specific criminal offences for foreigners, such as illegal entry and residence. While some immigrants have become involved in criminal activities this is hardly surprising given their circumstances. Melossi suggests that “the degree of involvement” and “its public representation” are “also obviously socially constructed” (p.379).
On the increased ratios in Greece, Spain and Italy, Melossi suggests that it may not be fair to compare southern European countries, where immigration is a relatively newer phenomenon, with countries with a colonial past. It is pointed out that there are black people in countries like France and the UK who are in prison because of social mechanisms not unlike those that those that lead to foreigners’ imprisonment, but obviously they do not show up in the foreigners’ statistics.
In a thoughtful and thorough analysis, Melossi situates his research within the “recurring process of forced inclusion, subordination and ‘subjectivation’ of recruits into a new draft of the European working class”.
Dario Melossi, '"In a peaceful life": Migration and the crime of modernity in Europe/Italy', in ‘Punishment and Society’, Vol 5 (4), Symposium Issue of Migration, Punishment and Social control in Europe edited by Dario Melossi, October2003 (Sage, http://www.sagepub.co.uk/eaccess).