Page 48 - FMR64_Trafficking and smuggling & Climate crisis and local communities_2020_web

FMR 64
48 Trafficking and smuggling
www.fmreview.org/issue64 June 2020

The return of vulnerable asylum seekers to Italy:
protecting victims of trafficking

Lucia Della Torre, Adriana Romer and Margarite Zoeteweij

The inadequacy of Italy’s reception conditions for vulnerable asylum seekers raises serious
questions about the legitimacy of Dublin transfers of those who have been trafficked.
Through the Dublin III Regulation an EU is also recorded, which is taken a few
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Member State can be requested by another weeks or sometimes a few months after the
Member State to take back an asylum seeker application is first registered. The invitation to
who has previously applied for asylum in appear before the local Territorial Commission
their first country of asylum. The application (which is responsible for examining asylum
of this Regulation places disproportionate applications) is issued only after the
pressure on the asylum systems of those statement is processed and, accordingly,
countries whose borders also form part of an appearance before the Commission
the external borders of the EU, of which Italy takes place at least a few months into the
is one. The result of this pressure, combined asylum procedure. For those who have
with recent political and legal developments been trafficked, this means that they spend
in Italy, means that the specific needs of a significant amount of time in the asylum
vulnerable asylum seekers – which includes procedure before being properly identified.
victims of trafficking – are often inadequately In cooperation with UNHCR and the
identified and met, casting doubt over the European Asylum Support Office, the Italian
legitimacy of these ‘Dublin transfers’. Ministry of the Interior has published
Early identification of potential victims guidelines for identifying victims of
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of trafficking in the asylum procedure trafficking among applicants for international
is crucial in order to grant them the best protection. Designed specifically for
possible conditions in which to properly Territorial Commissions, they allow for the
present their asylum claim, and to protect asylum procedure to be halted for up to
them from further exploitation. The Council four months if the Commission believes an
of Europe Convention on Action against applicant may have been trafficked. During
Trafficking in Human Beings outlines how this period, the applicant is referred to a
each Member State must ensure its authorities specialised local NGO, as recommended
have staff who are trained and qualified in the guidelines. After interviewing
in identifying and assisting survivors. the applicant, the organisation gives the
However, Italy’s asylum procedure Territorial Commission its assessment of
lacks a general screening for vulnerabilities the applicant’s claim to have been trafficked
and it falls short of these obligations. Anti- and its relevance for the individual’s
trafficking NGOs report that it is their own claim for international protection.
personnel who refer most of their cases, or In interviews conducted in September
referrals come from trained social workers 2019 as part of an OSAR report on reception
employed by reception centres; very few conditions in Italy, employees of these local
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come from the local police (and even then NGOs and Territorial Commissions reported
not always from those officers who are that the publication of the government
involved in registering asylum seekers). guidelines and the training provided to
The asylum procedure in Italy begins staff have had a positive impact on their
with the lodging of an asylum application collaboration, and that the number of referrals
at the local police station. Biometric data are coming from the Territorial Commissions
collected – either immediately, if capacity has increased. But although this increase
allows, or at a later stage. A written statement in referrals is good news, the funding and