ECRE published the AIDA country report for 2023 on the asylum situation in Italy, in conjunction with the Italian Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI).

The report provides an overview of key changes in the national asylum system that occurred in 2023 and early 2024 with regard to the asylum procedure, reception conditions, and the administrative detention of asylum seekers, refugees and unaccompanied minors. 

Key changes include the extension of accelerated and border asylum procedures, the agreement signed between Italy and Albania to extra-territorialise asylum applications, the widening of grounds for detention and the reduction of services within the reception system. 

This is the main information contained in the report: 

State of emergency

In October 2023 the government extended the state of emergency as a consequence of the exceptional increase in the numbers of third country nationals (TCNs) reaching Italy via the Mediterranean migration routes, to April 2024. In April 2024 it announced a further extenstion of 6 months.

Key asylum statistics

In 2023, 136 826 asylum requests were registered in Italy - almost double the number in 2022 (77 200). 60 772 of these were first instance applications (compared with 53 060 in 2022). Of these, 4 877 (8%) were granted refugee status, 6 244 subsidiary protection (10%) and 11 152 (19%) national protection (protezione speciale). Overall, the recognition rate stood at 37%, a decrease compared with 2022 when it was 47%. At the eastern border between Italy and Slovenia, informal readmissions were drastically reduced and border controls were reintroduced. The Ministry of Interior announced that these the border controls allowed police to intercept the 'irregular' arrival of 1 600 people, arresting 76 and denying entry to almost 900.

Access to the asylum procedure

Reports from civil society and NGOs confirm that difficulties in accessing the asylum procedure – in particular for those reaching Italy by land - persisted in 2023. They highlight that certain requirements can hinder the possibility of registering asylum applications, such as the need to communicate an official address or demonstrate the possession of a passport.

Safe countries list

By Ministerial Decree of 7 May 2024, the national list of 'safe' countries - to which an individual applying for asylum can legally be returned - has been expanded to include additional countries: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Egypt, Peru and Sri Lanka.

Protocol between Italy and Albania

On 6 November 2023, the Protocol between the Government of the Republic of Italy and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania on Strengthening Cooperation in Migration Matters was signed in Rome. The Italian Parliament ratified the protocol through Law 14 of 21 February 2024.

'Dublin' transfers

In 2023, 35 563 requests (including both take charge and take back requests) were received via the incoming procedure, which marked a significant increase since 2022, when 27 928 such requests were received. Regarding the outgoing procedure, there were 6 530 total requests, also considerably higher than in 2022 (when 5 315 requests were sent). The suspension of Dublin transfers due to the state of emergency continued throughout the year. However, incoming transfers were realised. Out of these, just 41 incoming transfers were realised based on family criteria (much lower than the 153 realised in 2022), and 21 involved minors. Transfers in the outgoing procedure were only 31, compared with 65 in 2022. Responding to a FOIA request, the Ministry of Interior stated that in 2023 the discretionary clause provided by Article 17 of the Dublin Regulation was applied 5 times.

Accommodation

At the end of 2023, the total number of asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection being provided with accommodation was 139 388. Since a new law in May 2023 asylum seekers have been excluded from the SAI system unless they are identified as vulnerable or legally entered Italy through complementary pathways (government-led resettlement or private sponsored humanitarian admission programmes). Moreover, this law removed the obligation to provide psychological assistance services, Italian language courses and legal and territorial orientation services to asylum seekers accommodated in first reception centres, CAS and temporary centers. A new type of “provisional” centres was also introduced, where only food, clothing, health care and linguistic-cultural mediation are provided. 

Detention

Another new law which entered into force on 5 May 2023 introduced the possibility of detaining asylum seekers during the Dublin procedure. Asylum seekers awaiting the Dublin transfer can now be detained when there is a significant risk of absconding and alternative measures to detention cannot be applied. The risk is assessed on a case-by-case basis and can be considered to exist when the applicant has escaped a first transfer attempt or when one of the following conditions occurs:

• Lack of a travel document
• Lack of a reliable address
• Failure to present oneself to the authorities
• Lack of financial resources
• Systematic false declarations about personal data.

L. 162/2023 increased the duration of pre-removal detention at CPR to 18 months: this period provides for the validation of detention for 3 months, which can be subsequently extended every 90 days, up to a maximum of 18 months. 

On 19 October 2023, in the cases A.B. v. Italy, A.M. v. Italy and A. S. v. Italy, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) once again recognised violations of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) and Article 5 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights and condemned Italy in relation to the detention conditions suffered by a number of foreign nationals at the Lampedusa Hotspot over a period of time between 2017 and 2019.

On 16 November 2023, in the case A.E. and Others v. Italy, compensation of €27 000 was ordered for 4 Sudanese nationals who, in the summer of 2016, were forcibly transferred from Ventimiglia to hotspots in southern Italy and in some cases, transferred to CPRS and then returned to their country of origin. The court found that they had been abused and deprived of their liberty.