Italy opens first center for asylum seekers from ‘safe’ countries

Rome: Italy has opened its first migrant center for asylum seekers from countries not considered to be dangerous in the Sicilian port city of Pozzallo.

The center will shelter people who are not qualified for international protection as they are considered to have come from a “safe country of origin.”

A safe country of origin is a country where the conditions that would qualify someone for asylum such as persecution, torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, or indiscriminate violence are “generally and consistently” not present.

The Italian government hopes the opening of the facility will speed up the processing of asylum claims. Asylum applicants in Italy reportedly have to wait about six months before they are interviewed by authorities and another two to three months before a decision is issued. In that time, they are often housed in centers provided by the Italian authorities or organizations and charities contracted to the state.

Last week, the Italian interior ministry issued a decree requiring rejected asylum applicants to pay €4,938 or face being detained in a closed center prior to deportation (CPR) while they are appealing their rejection.

The rule will apply to people who have ‘eluded or tried to elude controls and (come from) a ‘safe’ country’. Some countries considered ‘safe’ by the Italian government include Tunisia, Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal.

Human rights organizations slammed the move. “It is ridiculous. Who has got €5,000?” Anna Brambilla, a lawyer and member of the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) said in an interview.

Elly Schlein, leader of Italy’s opposition Democratic Party told Italian news agency ANSA that imposing a payment on asylum seekers to avoid being held in detention was against international law. Schlein referred to the policy as the “latest cruelty” of the government.

Italy’s right-wing government under Giorgia Meloni has been struggling to manage the arrival of migrants. Data from the Interior Ministry show that more than 133,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat so far this year, nearly twice as many as in the same period of 2022.

Earlier this month, more than 7,000 people arrived in 24 hours on the shores of Lampedusa Island, more than the island’s total resident population.

The arrivals overwhelmed already crammed migrant reception centers, prompting authorities to re-declare a state of emergency.

Meloni and European Commission President von der Leyen visited migrant centers in Lampedusa to assess the humanitarian situation.

Following the visit, Brussels announced a 10-point action plan to assist Italy with managing migrant arrivals, which included proposals to transfer migrants from Lampedusa to other member states, as well as stepping up talks with the migrants’ countries of origin to negotiate returns.

Moves are also underway for the Italian government to relocate people to various asylum centers in different parts of the country,

Earlier this month, two people were killed and another 25 injured when a bus transferring migrants who had recently arrived on Lampedusa crashed into a truck on the motorway just outside the Italian capital Rome.