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:
- 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.
- 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.
- The potential period of retention in centers for repatriation was doubled to a maximum of 180 days from the previous 90 days.
- Revocation of citizenship may be triggered in the event of a definitive conviction for terrorist offenses for Italian citizens who also hold other citizenship.
- 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.
