Table 3 Focus Groups’ main themes

Main themes stakeholders

Themes

Brief Definition

Job Issue

An immediate and urgent economic issue for migrants, a first step of a long-term project for stakeholders.

Precarious living circumstances

Migrants’ living difficulties in the resettlement country, sometimes underestimated by stakeholders.

Housing and sharing spaces

Housing as a challenging factor due to administrative and racial issues.

Isolation during the pandemic

Social isolation is a major problem for migrants, according to stakeholders.

Discrepancy of meanings in needs

The distance between stakeholders and migrants in the recognition of needs, especially in mental health.

Psychological suffering/distress

Stakeholders recognized feelings of suffering and pain in migrants during the pandemic.

Life project concepts

The post-migratory life project designed for migrants must be shared and sharable to acquire meaning.

Taking care of oneself

The discrepancy between the essential activities mentioned by stakeholders and those proposed by migrants.

Vulnerability

Perceptions of migrants’ over-vulnerability and “shared vulnerability” as human beings during pandemic.

Being invisible

Social workers and all vulnerable groups’ perception of being “invisible” for institutions, during the pandemic.

Bureaucracy and access to services

All services limited their access and slowed down their activities, leading to major practical issues for migrants.

Digitalization

Online procedures to use and to access services represented a further barrier for migrants.

Main themes migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

Themes

Brief definition

Access to services

The inability to “access services” had immediate consequences on administrative status, preventing them from obtaining regular employment contracts.

Digitalization

The “digital revolution” had a positive value because it forces to adapt and to learn new skills.

Limitation during pandemic

Movement restrictions and reductions in services reduced opportunities.

Cultural and linguistic barriers

The language barrier generates an experience of isolation due to the inability to communicate one’s point of view.

Racism

Racism as a manifestation of the difficulty to accept diversity. Being in a vulnerable condition could be circumstances of discrimination.

Human vulnerability

On a global level, the pandemic connected Italy with other countries in the world; on a local level it equalizes the local population and migrants as human beings.

Psychological suffering and distress

The pandemic generated strong feelings of fear, frustration and confusion, aggravating their already insecure and unstable situation.

Taking care

Trying to rely on themselves, on their personal resources and adaptation skills in order to cope with strong feeling and psychosocial problems.

The role of context

Obstacles to personal care and to the development of migration projects, on a practical and emotional level.

Bridging two worlds

The host country allows practical issues to be resolved (documents, work, housing, education), the context of origin is the ground for emotional and affective support. It is necessary to create a bridge and keep the link between the two worlds alive.