Refugees in Italy and in the CPIA: the key-word is inclusion

Refugees  The key-word is inclusion

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The reality revealed by the data collection in the CPIAs shows the presence of very many unaccompanied minors in the CPIAs. The CPIAs often also welcome 15-year-olds on the basis of specific territorial conventions. In many cases, however, minors risk being excluded from the various levels of secondary education. When they are in the 14-15 age, for example, they are already considered old to re-enter the lower secondary schools, but still too young for the CPIA.

This organization responds to the need to carry out rescue operations first, then all the necessary formalities (photo-signaling, identification and recording of the application for protection), and finally send the applicant, without means of support, to decentralized reception on the territory. Special reception services are also provided for the categories of vulnerable people: minors, unaccompanied minors, disabled, elderly, women in state of pregnancy, single parents with minor children, victims of human trafficking, people suffering from serious illness or mental disorder, people for whom it has been established that they have suffered torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence and victims of genital mutilations. Reception is ensured until the decision of the Territorial Commission.

To irregular immigrants in Italy we offer first aid and the carrying out of all the skills regarding reception and assistance. In these cases, immigrants are hosted in reception centers, activated and managed by the central management through the territorially competent prefectures to avoid their dispersion on the territory and to allow the authorities to verify their legal position. This control could lead to an expulsion order or access to the procedure for applying for international protection.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “2022 will be shaped by the world’s response to three threats: conflict, COVID-19 and climate change". “The longer we leave these problems, the bigger the consequences." Without an urgent action, the number of refugees will continue to swell, with new emergencies, as in 2021.

Often in order to escape from the dramatic situation in their countries of origin without documents to legally expatriate, refugees and asylum seekers are forced to resort to any means to escape and try to reach safe countries where they can ask for protection. In Italy many asylum seekers try to arrive by sea facing very dangerous journeys.

In this complex reception system work: 1) the National Commission for the right to asylum, with the task of directing and coordinating the territorial Commissions; 2) the territorial commissions for the recognition of international protection, which examine - in a decentralized way - the applications for the recognition of international protection.

In Italy, various collaborations are on going between the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor and other partners to carry out projects to raise awareness and integrate refugees into the socio-economic fabric of the community. The activity of the central management of the Civil Services for Immigration and Asylum is divided into two major sectors of intervention: immigration and asylum.

Everywhere the integration process is a critical point of the whole system. The integration process is complex because it needs collaboration with governmental and non-governmental actors to improve the opportunities for the inclusion of refugees in their host communities and to combat xenophobia.

We know... We know this, today more than ever. Millions of refugees around the world live, day after day, year after year, with a little hope of being able to return home one day. Some cannot return because their countries are involved in endless wars. Some cannot return because of the fear of being victims of persecution if they would return.

Refugees The key-word is inclusion

The key-word is inclusion

The path aimed at integration and inclusion is a complex one. Local integration is a gradual, complex process because it involves different areas: economic, legal, social, cultural. It is a path that requires time and also a lot of commitment, both for the person and for the society that welcomes it. In many cases, the acquisition of the nationality of the country of asylum is only the culmination of this process.

If voluntary repatriation is not a possibility for refugees, integration into the local community of the country of asylum can be the opportunity to start a new life, the lasting solution to their difficult condition.

For the assistance and reception of asylum seekers and those who have already obtained international protection, the process includes the management of the national fund for asylum policies and services. With this fund, the Minister of the Interior distributes the appropriations in favor of local authorities, which have activated reception and integration services in favor of applicants and holders of international protection. This is the Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR).

In this particular historical moment, as you can imagine, all CPIAs are busy trying to welcome as many refugees from Ukraine as possible.

Italy is the country that hosts the largest number of refugees and migrants in Europe. At the beginning of 2021 there were approximately 185 thousand refugees in Italy, among these, children and unaccompanied minors. Mostly they belong to 30 different nationalities and come mainly from the Horn of Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Most of the people who have applied for political asylum in Italy in recent years come from Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Tunisia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Somalia, Peru, Gambia and Senegal.

The reception system in Italy is based on different types of structures: - first reception centers; - temporary structures; - the SPRAR network. Different organizational models, cost items and different residence times depend on the different functions. The extraordinary increase of the arrivals of migrants in Italy made it necessary to increase the number of temporary reception structures. The distribution of migrants in the different regions is carried out in progressive moments.

In the CPIA the goal is first and foremost to transmit those basic skills in the Italian language that can allow integration and inclusion. Secondly, must be defined their formative needs, take stock of skills, evaluate their competences and guide them from a training point of view, and for a job placement. In the event of a lack of documents, when refugees arrive at the CPIA, awaiting recognition of subsidiary protection status, they must have the support of an association that provides a guarantee on their identity and interacts with the Prefecture to obtain temporary documents. Obviously the users are particularly fluctuating and unstable over time. This aspect constitutes a challenge for the school, both from the administrative point of view and from the pedagogical one.