Overview

Last update : June 2026

In this guide you will find information about:

Created by potrace 1.10, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2011

The very right wing government in Italy - backed up by European Unions so-called “Pact on migration” - is trying to make the arrivals, the movement from outside, but also the life of refugees and migrants inside the country more and more harder.

But still and again it is a contested space and the presence and future will be shaped by the resistance to defend the rights to come and to stay.

As the situations at local, regional and national level - including those in reception centers and other accommodation places - are all the time changing, we strongly recommend to go into the Contacts section where you can find solidarity structures like associations, activist groups, etc… - with counseling offices and support points in the various regions and cities, where you are staying or moving through (and which you can find in the extensive contact list).

These contacts have been updated during the year 2026, but it is always possible that some contacts details may have changed by the time you read this webguide. We suggest to check the Facebook page indicated and if you are aware of any changes or groups not marked on the map, please let us know.
At the end of this introduction, you will find some Guides on various topics and/or specific border areas.

Some more rough information on the main routes of arrival and on main questions:

  • People, who arrive from Libya or Tunisia in Lampedusa, actually are transferred within a few days to Sicily or to the mainland of Italy (see below: Mini-Guide for Sicily and Lampedusa (link). The authorities intend to regulate these movements and sometimes they try to filter out and to detain persons - e.g. persons with tunisian citizenship and more systematically if they have been already deported from Italy before - who then quickly should be sent back again to the country of origin. The politicians are just planning more closed camps and they might try to restrict free movement by threatening to loose the asylum status if a person leaves the first city of arrival. They also announce for the future a stricter policy of deportations. But just now in reality in most cases they still cannot manage. They have to accept the asylum applications and most people on the move have good chances to orient themselves inside Italy or to move further to other European countries.

  • People, who arrive in North-East of Italy via the Balkanroute nearby Trieste, also have the right to ask for asylum and they should insist on this right. Italian authorities sometimes try to stop people at the border to enter Italy or even organize illegal pushbacks back to Slovenia. At the moment in Trieste it is very difficult to formalise asylum applications due to the slow and overwhelmed bureaucracy, at the same time the camps are often full. But again: most people finally will find their route to their destination city.

  • People, who want to leave from Italy to France, have mainly two options: along the coastal area (via Ventimiglia) a lot of controls and push backs to Italy have to be expected. The route in the Alpes (via Turin to Briancon) is less controlled and offers better chances. But this alpine route includes big risks with bad weather and out of summer season.

  • For people, who arrived to other European countries from Italy, the fingerprints given in Italy (for the socalled Dublin-regulation) are still not an urgent problem. But it is announced for the second half of 2026, that these fingerprints should lead to deportations back to Italy. Thus the situation can change every time and we advice everyone with fingerprints from Italy to contact local solidarity groups for updated information exchange and support.

In general, life in Italy for migrants is often characterised by precariousness and vulnerability, particularly in the case of asylum seekers and those with short-term or ‘weak’ residence permits. Italian legislation still links legal residence to job contract, which means that in many situations, people with precarious residence status are forced to accept jobs that are often highly unstable and poorly paid, and risk finding themselves trapped in situations of exploitation.

It is an expression of an absurd policy (not only) in Italy, that the government recruited and recruit workers from foreign countries for the sectors in which they lack labour power (but often leaving them in precarious situations both socio-economically and legally) and in the same time the refugees and migrants, who might come or cross Italy, are confronted with border violence, social exclusion or even detention and deportation.
Law changes in recent years at both Italian and European level (such as the “Cutro Decree”, the Italy-Albania agreement, the list of so-called “safe countries”, the “accelerate procedures”, etc.) have further worsened the overall situation, leading to a restriction of migrants’ rights and freedoms and their ability to remain legally in Italy, whilst at the same time producing an increase in detention, pushback and border externalisation practices.

All this is taking place in a context, such as that in Italy, characterised by a rise in various forms of discrimination – institutional, political, media-driven and ‘popular’ – based on ethnicity, nationality and religion.
Thus it is even more important to get organized, not to give up but to learn about your rights and legal options, to create teams and networks to support each other. Solidarity is a crucial weapon against the racist policy.

Guides:

We wish all people on the move a safe and successful traveling to reach their desired city of arrival.