Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
The Bossi-Fini Law radically changes the procedures to be followed in order to obtain refugee
status. For instance, it introduces the National and the Territorial Commissions, which are
entrusted with local asylum processing.
The President of the Council of Ministers, following a joint proposal of the Ministries of Interior
and Foreign Affairs, issues a decree to appoint the national commission. The national commission
is chaired by the Prefect and composed of a director serving the office of the President of
the Council of Ministers, a diplomatic service official, an official of the Department of Civil
Liberties and Immigration, a director from the Department of Public Security a member of the
UNHCR delegation and a member of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI).
The national commission is charged, inter alia, with the:
Guidance and coordination of the territorial commissions;
Training of the members of the territorial commissions;
Collecting of statistical data.
The function of the territorial commissions is to define more rapidly the status of aliens and to
approve asylum or refugee status where applicable.
Thus, the new regulations provide for a decentralized, yet centrally coordinated asylum system.
Appellants under the normal determination procedure are granted a residence permit if the court
has not rendered its decision within six months.
Expulsion
The Consolidated Act on provisions concerning rules on immigration and aliens status. Law
No. 286/1998, as amended by Law No. 189/2002 (Art. 12,13,14,15) stipulates the legal ground
for expulsion.
There are two types of expulsion orders issued by the prefect (MOI provincial authority):
The order to leave Italian territory within 15 days; and
The order to leave with immediate deportation to the border.
Under the 1998 law, expulsion with immediate deportation to the border can only take place
where there are serious grounds relating to disturbance of the public order or security. 6 The same
law applies to Italian nationals considered a threat to the public. Expulsion can be contested
within a respite of 60 days. Appeals are lodged at the local court or from the country of origin
through the consulate.
The 2002 law provides the legal grounds for accompaniment to the border in all cases except for
unwanted migrants who overstay the order to leave. The court has 20 days to decide on the
appeal. The appeal does not suspend the expulsion order.
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