Does entrance with family influence the way minors leave a refugee centre ?

Résumé 0

This paper investigates the trajectories of young migrants arriving in Italy by sea by means of unique data from a centre for reception of refugees and asylum seekers located in the southern region of Calabria during the period 2009-2014. We focus on the influence of family relationships at entry. We find that the length of stay is nearly five times higher for minors who entered in the centre with family than for those arrived alone. More than one-half of minors choose to leave the centre voluntarily and around a quarter are transferred to other places. A multivariate analysis shows that family status is very influential when explaining time spent in the centre. There is substantial heterogeneity in exit motives depending on the minors’ country of origin. Overall, our results raise the issue of the effectiveness of the whole asylum system in Europe since the massive early departures of minors from the centre may suggest that Italy is not their intended destination.