Migration, (il)legal status and housing precarity: Difficulties and coping strategies
Senyo Dotsey, Maurizio Ambrosini
Abstract
Using evidence from participant observation and qualitative interviews with 54 sub-Saharan African (SSA) migrants—“economic migrants,” refugees (people with any international protection status), (refused) asylum-seekers and irregular migrants—this article identifies the housing barriers and the resources individuals use to cope with housing difficulties in the mid-sized city of Bergamo, Italy. The analysis highlights that while legal status is significant in accessing quality and stable housing, there is no direct relationship between legal status and housing access. All migrant groups faced various challenges to housing access leading to uncertain and precarious housing situations contributing to prolonged housing precarity, and the production of multiple and various coping mechanisms. The findings have implications for policy, housing and migration scholarship.