According to a report on international protection, migrants protection applications in Italy have risen by 44 percent in the first six months of 2017. Slightly over 50 percent of applicants were denied.
International protection applications in Italy have risen by 44 percent in the first six months of 2017, to 77,449 in total. The figures were released in a report on international protection in Italy by the Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) and Catholic charity Caritas. The report was completed with ANCI's research branch Cittalia, Fondazione Migrantes, and the central office of Italy's Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (SPRAR), in collaboration with UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.
- there had been 41,379 applications reviewed
- 4.3 out of 10 were approved (refugee status: 9 percent; subsidiary protection: 9.8%; permit for humanitarian reasons: 24.5%)
- 51.7% of applicants were denied.
The majority of those receiving international protection status were women, children, and the elderly. Over half of the applications from African migrants - 60 percent - were denied. The majority of applications were submitted in Milan, Bologna and Rome; the majority of approvals were granted in Turin, Caserta and Palermo.
The report also showed that migrant arrivals were up 19.3 percent at the end of June 2017, but as of October 30, 2017, the number of arrivals by sea hit 111,302, representing a 30 percent drop compared to the same period in 2016. Over 14,000 of those who arrived by boat through June 2017 were from Nigeria, followed by 8,241 arrivals from Bangladesh and 7,759 from Guinea.
The majority of international protection applicants in 2016 were men (85 percent) between the ages of 18 and 34 (80.2 percent), mainly from Nigeria (27,289), Pakistan (13,510), Gambia (9,040), Senegal (7,723) and the Ivory Coast (7,419).
The Territorial Commissions responsible for reviewing applications looked at more than 91,000 in 2016, approving 40.2 percent and denying 56.2 percent.
There were 5,800 repatriations in 2016 out of a total of just over 41,000 undocumented migrants, up 300 from 5,500 repatriations in 2015.
UNHCR calls for legal channels
The report has an "extraordinary value" and "allows analysis to understand what we have been doing so far and what to do for the future", said Veronica Nicotra, General Secretary of ANCI. Based on the report's data, UNHCR calls for more "integration" because "the centers are full" and "it's very difficult to make integration policies into an emergency situation", said Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR regional representative for Southern Europe.With "widespread acceptance, it is much easier to have a real integration policy". Lastly, the UN Agency asks to "open legal channels for refugees and for migrants" to reach Europe in safety.