Italy: Turin increases stay permit staff as migrants queue in icy cold
Rome: The Turin prefect’s office has announced the activation of new measures to deal with the situation of hundreds of thousands of foreigners waiting in line even at night in the freezing cold as part of procedures to receive stay permits.
The Turin prefect’s office has announced measures to address the recent emergency situation in Corso Verona, where hundreds of foreigners endure long waits, even during freezing winter nights, to request and receive stay permits.
Starting next week, the prefecture will increase staff by ten and expand one-stop-shop counters for immigration at the police headquarters to 16 stations. Additionally, a new one-stop shop will open at the Barriera di Milano police station with four more stations dedicated to delivering stay permits. Activities will also be decentralized to police stations in Ivrea, Bardonecchia, and Rivoli.
As an exception, the offices on Corso Verona will open on Saturdays to accommodate demand, the prefect’s office stated.
Moreover, online reservations for appointments for the presentation of applications via the ‘Prenota Facile’ platform will be activated.
According to the police immigration office, 136,000 people in the metropolitan area of Turin generated approximately 850 daily visits last year, amounting to 212,500 visits over 250 working days.
In autumn, the offices on Corso Verona will be transferred to a building owned by the Roman Catholic Church.
“The new area of 2,900 square meters will make it possible to activate many more one-stop shops for the procedures of issuing or renewing stay permits. It will also make it possible to host, inside the facilities, any users in line,” the prefect office noted.
Efforts by the town council, civil defense, military command of the army, and the Red Cross have meanwhile made it possible to provide shelter spots for immigrants in line starting from January 22 — especially in night hours — with washroom facilities, blankets, and bottles of water.
