Informality and Grey Area in a EU Borderland. Migrant detentions, mafia interests and glocal governance in Lampedusa'.

In order to show how the permanent migrant crisis in Italy and Europe works to enable mafia groups to illicitly access substantial public funding, we concentrate here on a primary case study and two corollary, but connected to one another, ones. First, and most importantly, we look at the iconic borderland of Lampedusa. The case of this tiny Sicilian island is extremely emblematic to show how emergency became the new normal of migration management in Italy – and in Europe. An analysis of the events involving the local migrants and asylum seekers’ reception centre demonstrates how emergencies attracted increasing EU funds to this otherwise isolated community. It also demonstrates how the emergency allowed for the expansion of a grey area which favoured corruption and, with it, the infiltration of mafias’ interests in the local governance of migration. Thus, we move northwards, in Calabria, to concentrate further on the involvement of Calabrian mafia in the management of the biggest reception centre of Europe, in Crotone. This case confirms how the inflow of substantial public funding in a territory with dense mafia presence favours concurrent predatory governance practices. Finally, we briefly look at the Mafia Capitale case in Rome, which involved a local criminal group that, according to prosecutors, organized itself as a mafia group. This latest case shows how the availability of EU and national funds distributed within a declared emergency, provide a set of opportunities for criminal groups with the right institutional connections - up to the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs.