Multiple Migrations and intra-European mobilities of Italian naturalized migrants

This paper looks at the recent phenomenon of Bangladeshi immigrants in Italy who are onward-migrating to London, after their acquisition of the Italian citizenship – that allows them to move and relocate within the territory of the EU. Adopting an intersectional approach, I seek to answer two questions: what were the mobility trajectories of these migrants before arriving in Italy and within Italy? Why do they onward-migrate from Italy to the UK? For most Italian-Bangladeshis, Italy constitutes just a step in their migration trajectories: their mobility biographies are marked by many arrivals and departures. This responds to their desire for upward social mobility and their realization as adult men. This also leads them to leave Italy and move to London: in order to escape socially limiting factory work, to invest in the educational future of their children, to join a much larger Bangladeshi community set within a receptive multicultural and religion-tolerant society.