Staff of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration visited their Italian colleagues last week. The mission was facilitated by UNHCR, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation and the Embassy of Italy in Serbia. The aim of the mission was to give the Serbian authorities an opportunity to exchange experiences with Italian authorities about asylum and migration system management in a context of mixed movements.
The mission presented a welcome opportunity for them to become acquainted with the Italian system of asylum and integration which is decentralized both in regard to the asylum procedure and reception, with the important role of civil society organizations and support provided by UNHCR.
Meetings were held with a range of stakeholders including the Ministry of the Interior, in charge of protection of civil rights including those related to immigration and asylum, the Department of Public Security, Immigration Office within the Rome Police Headquarters, conducting registration of applications for international protection needs, the National Commission for the Right to Asylum, coordinating the work of territorial asylum commissions, the Rome Territorial Commission deciding on international protection needs in the first instance, as well as the Specialized section of the Tribunal in Rome (deciding on applications for international protection in the second instance). They also had visited a first line of reception structure “Chicco di Grano” in Velletri (Rome) and had a meeting with Servizio Centrale Sistema Accoglienza ed Integrazione to become acquainted with the organization and management of the second line reception system.
The delegation met the civil society organizations providing support to refugees and asylum seekers Sant’Egidio, an organization working on integration and humanitarian corridors, SAMIFO (Centro di Salute per Migranti Forzati) providing psychosocial support to asylum seekers and refugees and “Differenza Donna” working on protection of women victims of trafficking and violence.
Members of the delegation, representatives of Italian authorities and UNHCR agreed to continue the exchange and further strengthen cooperation in the area of asylum and refugee protection.
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