Twenty organizations that are active in supporting migrants have expressed concern over an Italian policy that seeks to reduce the number of successful application for humanitarian protection granted to migrants.
The alarm was sounded after the president of the National Commission for the Right to Asylum in an informal statement told the presidents of territorial commissions - charged in Italy with evaluating requests filed by migrants - to change the ''trend'' regarding the number of internationally recognized forms of humanitarian protection in Italy. The statement requested a ''necessary, urgent and dutiful change'' after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called for tighter criteria to grant humanitarian protection.
'Explicit indications to reduce protection'
The informal statement sent on July 16 to all commissions ''raises serious issues of legitimacy both concerning the minister's indications in a previous document'' - which had also raised the concern of the network - ''and due to the words used and explicit indications to reduce the number of protections,'' wrote the associations in a statement, the Jesuit refugee Center Astalli said.
The commissions need to be ''independent from political indications and only respond to the law and the personal history of applicants, without any intervention against constitutional norms'', continued the statement. As far as unaccompanied minors applying for asylum are concerned, the evaluation of their applications should concern ''their superior interest''. The associations asked the ministry to clarify the commission's role, expressing the wish that they can carry on with their work ''without political interference''.
'Asylum rights should not be of political interest'
The associations that are part of the Tavolo Asilo asked ''all political forces, institutions of the republic, starting with the institutional figures that are most representative and social forces, to stress that asylum rights in our country can't be used instrumentally for political interests and that people who have a public role must follow the law strictly'', said the statement. Tavolo Asilo ''means to promote a national initiative putting at the center the access to asylum rights and the principles of our Constitution'' and asks Minister Salvini ''to receive us urgently to express our concern and obtain answers regarding the respect of existing legislation'.'