The European continent has undoubtedly experienced a lot in recent decades. From World War II to Soviet Russia's iron grip on half the continent, many problems arose and were resolved. Unfortunately, Europe has had a difficult few years regarding the somewhat more recent issue of immigration and immigrant groups. While some countries have handled immigration better than others, countries like France and Italy have had their share of problems and continue to pass flawed laws that draw criticism from other countries. The problem has improved in recent years and various European countries have made great progress in their immigration policies. Additionally, various ethnic groups have been targets of government profiling and discrimination. Most notably the Roma people, who have been discriminated against for hundreds of years and continue to do so by various governments in Eastern and Western Europe. The many setbacks and gains on immigration are most clearly visible when examined on a case-by-case basis, such as in the individual policies of Italy, France and the European Union as a whole. With the introduction of the Schengen Agreement in 1985, travel and restrictions in Europe changed dramatically. For the first time in the world, a large group of countries came together and abolished all restrictions on travel, creating a vast zone of free movement. Anyone who was a citizen of a country in the European Union now had access to every other country in the region, creating a borderless landmass. This agreement had major positive factors, but also glaring negative effects. The most glaring negative side effect of free trade...... middle of paper...... order” (CITATION NEEDED). The plan also recognized the country's need for migrant workers, so it was the first set of laws allowing a quota and time limit for workers to have jobs in the country. Besides migrant workers, the Martelli Law was also the first of its kind in Italy to introduce some forms of visa requirements for foreigners entering the country. This was partly to show the EU that Italy could comply with the new rules, as well as to show Italy's ability to regulate who is allowed into the Schengen area. One of the last major provisions of the law concerned asylum seekers. When Italy signed the Geneva Convention in 1950, it agreed to allow asylum applications from foreigners only in Europe, not elsewhere. With the Martelli law, any foreign person could request asylum, not just those from the same continent..