Five children who helped to save their classmates when their bus was set on fire by the driver near Cremona last week have been honored at a press conference in Rome. Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini said two of the boys, whose parents are immigrants, would receive Italian citizenship.
Gennaro Santoro is an Italian lawyer working with the non-governmental organization the Italian Coalition for Civil Liberties and Rights (CILD). Since the so-called ‘Salvini Decree’ was implemented in autumn 2018, lots of you have asked us questions on Facebook about how it will affect your life in Italy. Below are some answers to your questions.
The Women’s Refugee Commission in a new study found that "sexual violence against all refugees and migrants –women, men, girls and boys- appears to be commonplace along the central Mediterranean route." Their study outlines recommendations for service providers, governments and donors to try and deal with this problem.
The Italian Cassation Court said the Salvini decree, which tightened the criteria on issuing stay permits for migrants, is not retroactively applicable. Therefore, applications presented prior to the decree's implementation must be considered under the previous regulations.
A number of Italian regions governed by center-left coalitions have announced they are appealing against the controversial "Salvini decree" that strips migrants of basic services. Now the Constitutional Court has to determine whether the decree is constitutional.
As the year nears its end, the Italian government has boasted that it has reduced migrant arrivals to Italian shores by more than 80 percent. What is not mentioned are the tens of thousands of people who have fallen out of the system but remain on Italian soil. Some fear that the migration decree approved in November could increase their numbers, creating problems for the future.
With the adoption of a "security decree" tightening migration policy in Italy, thousands of migrants are likely to lose their humanitarian protection permits, which allowed them to stay in Italy legally. Thousands of people now risk once again becoming homeless, undocumented and unemployed.
Oxfam has denounced the new Italian security and migration decree. The charity says that the new law may soon leave over 12,000 vulnerable migrants homeless. Ten times as many migrants are at risk of becoming undocumented over the next two years.
A crowdfunding project wants to help those affected by the new security and migration decree in Italy. The goal: To provide shelter and services for families who have been forced to leave state accommodation.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has rebuffed critics of his security and migration decree. The new law has been strongly criticized by organizations in the refugee sector.
Italy has its own category of protection for some failed asylum seekers, but the government has recently legislated against this. Thousands of protesters have hit the streets to defend refugee rights.
In Calabria, in Southern Italy, dozens of migrants with humanitarian protection permits have been evicted from a reception centre. The eviction comes after the so-called 'Salvini decree' stripped the migrants of their special humanitarian protection status so they no longer have a right to housing. Activists are now sounding the alarm.