Pilgrims arrive on visa, go underground; it’s routine

Kochi: Getting ‘lost’ in Italy after being part of a pilgrim group is a big deal, you thought. It’s not.

“There is nothing so surprising about people going underground after coming on a tourist visa, especially in groups,” says K. Wilson (name changed on request), who landed in Italy 11 years ago on a tourist visa, and managed to regularise it later.

“People opt for groups because airfares are low in groups,” he told DC over phone from the outskirts of Rome, where he works for a French automobile company.

“The law is lenient here and those who go underground normally have relatives or friends here,” he said. “Nobody is put in prison just because he/she doesn’t have a valid visa.

If they are caught, they are let off after their thumb impressions are taken, but would be under observation. The government does not bear the expense of deporting a person.

In fact, illegal immigrants outnumber legal immigrants here.” Hailing from Thrissur, Wilson had reached Rome as part of a group that was on a visit to the Vatican.

He said that normally employers of the illegal immigrants come forward to regularise their status by sponsoring them. “Sometimes the government asks them to pay the tax for the period during which they illegally stayed here along with a sum as contribution. 

The sponsors along with the persons or their relatives or friends raise this money. The government then grants them the working permit card,” he said.

Wilson managed to get a work permit four years after his arrival and has now obtained a life permit for himself and his family which comprises his son and wife.

He added that the Italian economy was not in a sound shape now and hence finding jobs would be a difficult task for illegal immigrants. “However, NGOs like Caritas support people who are in penury,” he said.