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.
