Changes will soon be in force for commissions assessing asylum requests for unaccompanied minors in Italy. The following are the main new elements introduced by a legislative decree that will be in force from January 31.
Beginning on January 31, new regulations will come into effect that concern territorial commissions for the granting of international protection and procedures for unaccompanied minors.
How territorial commissions will change
As noted by the Italian interior ministry, the new measure focuses on the structure of territorial commissions for the granting of international protection.
Beginning on January 31, they will include 250 specialized administrative officials designated by the interior ministry. The commissions will no longer include police officials or representatives from local government agencies but there will be an official who has worked in the prefecture sector, an expert in international protection designated by UNHCR and four administrative officials.
The interview with the asylum seeker constitutes one of the main phases of the procedure for the assessment of the request by the territorial commission.
The hearing for the asylum seeker can be omitted only when the commission believes it has sufficient reason to accept the request, or for serious health problems suffered by the interviewee. Current regulations call for the interview to take place in the presence of only one of those chosen from among officials with specific training and possibly of the same gender as the asylum seeker.
The new measure has also modified the regulations for the National Commission for Asylum Rights, whose functions will be integrated with the task of monitoring the quality of the procedures and activities of the territorial commissions and of giving an opinion on the those designated to take part on the commissions.
What changes for unaccompanied foreigners
In the last legislature, new measures were brought in to provide greater protection for unaccompanied minors. The decree that will come into force on January 31 gives the Court for Minors the right to name a 'tutor' for the unaccompanied minors in order to concentrate all judicial phases under a single judge. Another new element is that the Court for Minors will now have the right to identify the age of the minor in cases of doubt concerning the stated age.