Immigration important for the economy

The Financial Times criticises Italy's recent domestic policies toward illegal immigrants and crime, and points to the economic need for immigration: "There is no hard evidence of such a crime wave, only the perception of one. The measures the government has introduced ... threaten to aggravate that perception and fuel a xenophobic backlash against perfectly legal migrants ... At the weekend Pope Benedict warned about 'recent examples of racism'. ... Other countries in Europe, such as Spain, are dealing with an even greater proportion of immigrants without resorting to any such measures. Immigration is a fact of life in Europe today, and an economic necessity. The key is to manage the process of integration, not to inflame prejudice against the least protected."

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