UPON ARRIVAL

ITALIAN RECEPTION and ASYLUM: AN INTRODUCTION

One of the most difficult realities that asylum seekers face once they’ve arrived in Europe is that their journey isn’t over yet; there remains a challenging, lengthy, and even maddening process of integration before emancipation. Italy’s asylum and reception systems are intertwined, as the asylum seeker’s legal status directly impacts their placement in different types of reception centres.

The names for these types of reception centres have changed many times over the past few years due to shifting Italian policies, so I’ll use their original – and most commonly used – names.

There are two main types of reception centres:

• CAS; Centro di Accoglienza Straodinaria or Primary reception centers. Asylum seekers are immediately placed in these federally-controlled reception centers after being processed upon arrival in Italy.
• SPRAR; Sistema di Protezione per Richiedenti Asilo e Rifugiati or Secondary reception centers. Once migrants have received a form of humanitarian protection, they are transferred from the CAS to these municipally-controlled centers as they attend integration programs, find work, and build an independent life for themselves.

Several types of humanitarian protections exist in Italy, each with its own set of requirements and periods of validity:

• Asilo politico, or political asylum, lasting 5 years
• Protezione sussidaria, or subsidiary protection, lasting 5 years
• Protezione umanitaria, or humanitarian protection, lasting 2 years. (defunct since 2018, replaced by special permission.
• Casi speciali, special permission, lasting 2 years. This replaced humanitarian protection.

Other important permits are:

• Permesso di soggiorno, or residency permit, lasting 6 months. This document is what allows migrants to stay in Italy as they wait for their documents. It can be renewed indefinitely given the long waiting times.
• Permesso di lavoro, or work permit. This is available only upon reception of an employment contract. Some migrants with residency permits aren’t permitted to work, though.

CAS: PRIMARY RECEPTION

Upon arrival to Italy, migrants are fed, medically cared for, and processed at their port of arrival. Once this has been completed, they are transferred to a state or privately-run Primary Reception Centre (Centro di Accoglienza Straodinaria or CAS). This is where they are meant to reside as they acclimate, learn Italian and apply for humanitarian. Residence at CAS is contract-based, up to a maximum of 3 months.

However, because asylum application results can take much longer than the estimated 3 months, contracts are often extended and the CAS become overcrowded and understaffed. Since the purpose of first reception centres is only to offer basic integration services as migrants wait for results, many migrants find themselves with little to do, few resources, and a lot of time on their hands. After perilous journeys sometimes lasting years, all in the hope of finding safety and stability, they find themselves in a kind of limbo, unable to move on with their lives.

During their stay at the CAS, migrants are given residency permits that must be renewed every 6 months. Meanwhile, with the help of counsellors or lawyers, migrants must determine which type of humanitarian protection to apply for and proceed to present their case to the Italian Asylum Commission. This presentation generally involves a lengthy interview where migrants must provide a detailed account of their journey to Italy as well as an explanation for their application.

THE ASYLUM COMMISSION

All migrants who apply for humanitarian documents with the Italian asylum commission must give them a detailed, chronological account of their journey. However, these are meant to be succinct accounts presenting only events as they occurred, not the thoughts and emotions of those who had experienced them.

Although migrants are assigned counsellors or lawyers to help them with their application to the Commission, these aides are usually overworked, underpaid and – despite any good intentions – often try to streamline the migrants’ stories as much as possible and even requesting that they omit certain elements from their accounts.

The Commission is equally overworked, as it must process thousands of applications per month, leaving little room for empathy. It requires straightforward and exclusively factual accounts; any contradiction is considered suspect and could cost the applicant dearly. This is especially problematic given that journeys from Sub-Saharan Africa can last anywhere between a few months to several years during which many migrants are subjected to abuse, violence and incredible trauma, all of which can impact memory.

It’s common for survivors of trauma to block certain events out or forget them entirely. These missing pieces are often seen as weaknesses in an asylum seeker’s testimony and often lead to the rejection of the most vulnerable.

Although delays for Commission results are initially estimated at 3 months, results can often take longer, sometimes years. During this time, migrants cannot secure work contracts, become financially independent or obtain independent lodging. In a sense, they are socially and economically paralyzed, unable to generate income or plan their future.

In Messina, Fidèle Deholo,  explains that at the CAS Hotel Grand Liberty where he was residing in 2019, some had been waiting for their Commission results for years and had all but given up hope. Faced with few possibilities and mounting prejudice outside, many would isolate themselves in their rooms and rarely ever leave the hotel. Anger and mental health issues were commonplace, first seeded by the trauma of their journeys to Europe, then exacerbated by the difficulties they faced in Italy.

If a request is refused by the Commission, applicants are permitted to appeal twice with the help of a lawyer. However, although lawyers are meant to be paid through a government program, this process can take years. Applicants must then pay the lawyer themselves anywhere between 200 and 500 euros for the appeal process. Since these migrants cannot legally work, they must procure these funds by either working as day labourers on the black market or reselling 4-euro SIM cards provided to them by the government.

SPRAR: SECONDARY RECEPTION

If humanitarian protection is granted, migrants must move onto a Secondary Reception Centre (SPRAR). During this period, migrants are meant to attend integration programs, purse their education, acquire work skills and ultimately find an employment contract so that they can become financially stable enough to secure their own lodging. Stays at SPRAR are contract-based and variable in length, so they can last anywhere from six months to two years.

SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS

Because of the continuous flow of arrivals, stays in reception centers are contract-based, with a set expiry. Although CAS contracts can be extended because of lengthy asylum response times, SPRAR contracts are much firmer; once the contract expires, the migrant must leave.

Unfortunately, not all who leave the SPRAR have been able to secure work contracts or residences. This leaves them with few options; informal settlements, homeless shelters, abandoned buildings or the streets. Some charitable organizations have their own shelters or apartments, but not nearly enough to support all migrants in need.

During the ‘Salvini government’ period between 2018 and 2019 where far-right – and notoriously anti-migrant – Deputy Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini effectively led the country, reception funding was slashed and many centers were closed. In addition to this, local governments often struggle to construct new accommodations, leaving many migrants with nowhere to live and with no other choice than to create informal settlements.