The recent tragic events at
Porto Empedocle on 14 September, which resulted in the death of 36 persons,
have been presented to public opinion as the latest attempt by clandestines or
irregular immigrants to land in Italy.
Few have commented on the presence, among those persons, of many who
have fled from realities of war or conflict, such as in Liberia, and who hoped
to find in Italy humanitarian assistance and recognition of their right
to asylum.
This episode highlights to
what extent the protection of asylum rights in Italy has become marginalised
within the current political and cultural debate regarding immigration and is
not valued as a fundamental human right, sanctioned by our
Constitution and by international Conventions to which Italy is signatory.
The situation of asylum
seekers in Italy which, has been
difficult for a number of years due to the lack of a basic law on the subject, has
worsened since the approval of the so-called Bossi-Fini law.
In view of the effective
implementation of the articles regarding asylum (which will occur once the
regulations are in force, not before 2003) a sort of “waiting
period” has begun, during which the already very limited assistance
measures foreseen under current regulations have been suspended and the actual
procedure for recognition of refugee status has become nebulous and ever more
uncertain.
There are various provisions
which lead in this direction:
· the long waiting
period and the suspension, in many cases, of the appointments given to asylum
seekers for examination of their cases by the Central Commission for the
Recognition of Refugee Status;
· the suspension
from 1 August 2002 of the contribution for initial assistance from the
Prefectures for asylum seekers;
· the non-renewal of many stay
permits issued for humanitarian reasons;
· the suspension of
the subsistence grant to recognized refugees foreseen under the present
regulation. Furthermore, from 1 April 2002 the Prefectures are not accepting new
requests.
· Insufficient
funding of the National Asylum Programme, which has forced many reception
centres to reduce numbers to a minimum and many local councils to fall back on
their own local funding.
The signatories to this
appeal:
Denounce the current
condition of asylum seekers in Italy, ever more serious and often unbearable.
Many have now been without assistance for many months, forced to trail day
after day from one office to another, without any certainty on length of time
or procedures required regarding their request for asylum.
Request the competent
Institutions to speed up as much as possible the examination of the asylum
requests already presented and the renewal of stay permits for humanitarian
reasons;
Invite Parliament to
discuss, as soon as possible, proposed legislation on the subject of asylum, in
order that Italy may have an effective mechanism in place to manage the
reception, assistance and integration of asylum seekers and refugees
The future of thousands of
people, often victims of persecution and abuse, and the dignity of our
Institutions and our Country, are at stake.
Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali-Comune di Roma, Caritas Diocesana
di Roma, Casa dei Diritti Sociali-Focus, Centro Astalli, Consiglio Italiano per
i Rifugiati (CIR), Comunità di S. Egidio, Consorzio della Cooperazione
Sociale Sol.Co Roma, Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche (FCEI), Fondazione
Internazionale don Luigi Di Liegro, Fondazione Migrantes, ICS - Consorzio
Italiano di solidarietà, Progetto Casa Verde
Acli-Ipsia, Agesci, Asgi, Associazione abitanti via Giolitti-Esquilino,
Gruppo Abele, Conferenza permanente dei presidenti delle associazioni e
federazioni nazionali di volontariato, Fondo Alberto Moravia, Gruppo volontari
Emmaus – Catanzaro, Movimento “Genti di pace”, Cecilia
– Cooperativa Sociale, Fondazione Auxilium, senatore Natale Ripamonti,
senatore Luigi Manconi, Associazione Immigrati Nordafricani in Italia,
Federazione Italiana Organismi e Reti educative, Studio legale Nascimbene
– Andreoni, Centro Welcome, Centro di ricerca per la pace –
Viterbo, Associazione Sutka, Arci, Associazione ARG, Agorà Kroton