The movement of asylum seekers between different states of the European Union. This movement is prohibited by the Dublin III regulation on asylum law in the European Union, which requires asylum seekers to submit their application in the first country of entry and to wait in that territory until they receive the outcome of their application.

Two legal decrees approved by the Italian Parliament on the recommendation of the Ministry of the Interior in 2018 and 2019 contain certain “provisions on public safety and the prevention and countering of terrorism and mafia crime.”

With respect to immigration, these decrees made the following changes:

1. Concerning political asylum, they increased the number of crimes that can annul a request for political asylum. A first-degree sentence leads to immediate expulsion. The added crimes are sexual violence, drug dealing, theft, and aggravated injury to public officials.
2. The abolition of “humanitarian protection” status, which was replaced by a residence permit “for special cases”; this permit valid for one year but cannot be converted into a residence permit for reasons of subordinate work.
3. The potential period of retention in centers for repatriation was doubled to a maximum of 180 days from the previous 90 days.
4. Revocation of citizenship may be triggered in the event of a definitive conviction for terrorist offenses for Italian citizens who also hold other citizenship.
5. SPRARs (Sistema di protezione per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati or the “Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees”) will no longer accept asylum seekers; it will only accept unaccompanied minors and those who have already received one of the two existing international protection statuses.

The selection of beneficiaries takes place in the various refugee camps, where individuals and families are interviewed and evaluated based on the vulnerability criteria established by the UNHCR and the Gandhi Charity association.

During the interviews, the following is explained to refugees: the framework, process, and duration of the Humanitarian Corridors program, the obligations of the beneficiaries with respect to obtaining international protection, the rights and duties of the beneficiaries and of the host Caritas unit with respect to both housing and financial support, and the expectation that the beneficiaries will enroll in both language school courses and housing integration courses.

Because of the amount of information that must be conveyed, Caritas Italy social workers carry out at least three interviews on-site, in refugee camps or in the places of residence of potential beneficiaries, before the actual selection. The first meeting is aimed at developing the first steps of mutual understanding and at developing information about the interviewees’ particular situations, especially if they have medical issues that may require special attention. During the second interview, social workers describe the project and the path of reception in Italy, and the beneficiaries' documents are verified. The third meeting takes place after the selection has been made and serves as a more in-depth predeparture training session tailored to the specific community where the beneficiary will be hosted. In this meeting, photos and videos of the new destination and possibly also of the mentor family and the host country social workers are shown.

During the interviews for the selection, the mediators, who know the beneficiaries and the contexts of their home countries and who have a significant understanding of the language and life of the beneficiaries, play a fundamental role. The mediators help to explain to the beneficiaries the context of their new home in Italy. The interviews also mark the beginning of a path of psychological support for beneficiaries with particular vulnerabilities in this area.

The program is particularly aimed at refugees with physical vulnerabilities, so medical screening represents an important element of both the selection of the beneficiaries and the identification of an appropriate match with the various available local Caritas units.

The staff employed by the individual diocesan Caritas units who are charged with the duty of assisting the beneficiaries of the Humanitarian Corridors project, as well as all potential asylum seekers and refugees that the individual Caritas unit may be responsible for. According to the protocol of the Humanitarian Corridors project, the tasks of the social workers include legal assistance with the procedures related to requests for political asylum; the health care needs of refugees, in collaboration with the ASLs (the part of the Italian public administration responsible for the provision of health services) and outpatient clinics in a particular area; the provision of cultural interpreters and mediators; assistance with job searches; and enrollment in the national school system both for minors subject to compulsory education and for adults. For the latter, the social workers support the beneficiaries as they forge paths toward financial and work-related autonomy.

This system of protection for asylum seekers and refugees is a service provided by the Ministry of the Interior, which manages the reception of, assistance to, and integration projects involving asylum seekers by means of structures scattered throughout Italy. Because it has always welcomed people who were previously involved in other structures welcoming foreigners immediately after their arrival in Italy, including CAS (“Extraordinary Reception Centers,” open to all undocumented migrants arriving in Italy) and CARA (“Reception Centers for Asylum Seekers,” according to which asylum seekers are only allowed to stay while their request for protection is being evaluated), SPRAR is considered to be a secondary structure of reception. The SPRAR system was created by the so-called Bossi-Fini law, passed in 2002 (num. 189/2002), which governs the right to asylum and to Italian citizenship. Under its rules, the SPRAR system applies to both asylum seekers and people who have already been granted asylum. Only foreigners who have been granted one of the two international protection statuses or who are unaccompanied minors can access the SPRAR system; asylum seekers and humanitarian protection holders can no longer do so.