We receive and publish the following press release.
In the context of the current examination, during the conversion, by the Senate of Legislative Decree no. 20/2023, which provides for amendments to the legislative decree 28 January 2008 n. 25, it can be seen that amendments were already presented in the Constitutional Affairs Commission which, worryingly, risked having a profound effect on the structure of the territorial commissions for the recognition of international protection.
By way of example, amendment 7.0.100 is reported, which proposed to add the following words to the end of article 4, paragraph 1-bis: Intern specially trained in the field of international protection by the Administration itself, after entry into the role” and a sub-amendment to the same which provided for: “To the amendment 7.0.100, paragraph “Art. 7-bis”, paragraph 1, after letter a) the following is added:
a-bis) in article 4, the following is inserted after paragraph 1-bis:
“1-ter. In case of necessity determined by a high number of requests for international protection, in order to ensure compliance with the terms of the examination procedures referred to in article 27 of the legislative decree of 28 January 2002, n. 25, the functions referred to in paragraph 1-bis can be performed by personnel in any capacity in service at the territorial commissions in possession of the requisites for access to the third functional area of the civil administration of the interior, specially trained in the matter of international protection.”
These proposals appear symptomatic of a clear desire to demean the role hitherto performed by highly qualified officials hired pursuant to Legislative Decree 17 February 2017, no. 13, converted by Law 13 April 2017, n. 46.
In this regard, we represent that, on the basis of the aforementioned decree, the specific competition for “highly qualified officials for the performance of duties of character specialist”, which, among the various provisions, created our professional figure for the first time, unique within the Administration.
In fact, we were selected following the passing of competition tests (pre-selective, written and oral) of the highest level in terms of content and specificity of the subjects required (public international law, of the European Union and national and European legislation in the field international protection, English language, history and political and economic geography of Asian and African countries). The recruitment was then followed, over time, by the attendance of numerous further specialization courses held by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), now renamed EUAA (European Union Asylum Agency).
The know-how characteristic of our profile, it allows us to play a role of a parajudicial nature, which does not only require mere knowledge of regulations, geopolitical situations of the countries of origin and national and international jurisprudence on the right to asylum, but also great efforts in terms of listening, communication and assistance skills towards individuals with different and, very often, extremely traumatic backgrounds (victims of torture, abuse and sexual and labor exploitation).
These specificities make us the only employees in the Administration, together with those of the prefectural career, who, pursuant to the law, can compose the Commissions that examine applications for international protection, taking over roles previously held by executive figures of Public Safety and Local Authorities.
The added value of our skills has recently been sealed by Court of Cassation which justified the non-necessity of the level of appeal in processes concerning international protection, underlining the importance of the “administrative phase, destined to take place before a specially trained personnelin which the applicant is placed in a position to fully explain his reasons through the interview destined to take place before the Territorial Commissions, so that the suppression of the appeal is also justified by the fact that the judge is called to intervene in a context in which the central investigative element has already been acquired – precisely the aforementioned interview – for the purposes of scrutinizing the validity of the application for protection, which contributes to making the appeal judgment superfluous” (Cass . civ. Section I, Ord., 10-30-2018, n. 27700).
In the light of the particular and delicate nature of our duties, however, we believe one emerges obvious inconsistency between our professionalism and the treatment currently reserved for us by the Administration.
As confirmation of the lack of consideration for our qualification as experts, it should be mentioned that, following the closure of some Sections, with effect from the summer of 2019, just one year after entry into service, approximately no. 100 (one hundred) newly hired officials were identified as redundant personnel, part of which was then assigned to other Administration Offices in order to make up for the personnel shortage and assigned totally different functions to those for which they were selected in the competition.
It therefore seems appropriate to us, also in consideration of the current government orientation which would provide for the recruitment of new figures “in any capacity in service” to be assigned to our function, pay attention to the need to see this specialization recognized, continuously diminished since the closure of various Sections and the assignment of highly specialized officials to tasks that have nothing to do with the competition performed.
This mechanism would lead to a degrading of the quality of the procedure for recognizing international protection in a moment of emergency now formally recognized at national level, as well as to the debasement of the professionalism of many workers, exercised every day to protect the individual rights of applicants for international protection with passion and dedication. Suffice it to consider the recent management of the Afghan and Ukrainian crises, which saw the Colleges engaged in the front line in recognizing the most appropriate protection for individual cases.
It should also be pointed out that the possible inclusion of figures lacking the necessary professionalism and experience in the field would not guarantee compliance with those quality standards also required at European level, with inevitable repercussions on decision-making times, on the expenses due to the reception of applicants, as well as an aggravation of the work of the Courts, whose decisions already arrive several years late with the relative expenditure of public resources deriving from access to free legal aid.
In view of the above, to protect both the professionalism of highly qualified officials, currently in service at the Territorial Commissions, related Sections and the National Commission for the right to asylum, and of international protection seekers, for the defense of the asylum system as a whole and for the efficiency of the administrative structure in its various articulations, it is requested that the aforementioned proposals for amendments demeaning the asylum system and the professionals already operating therein be eliminated from the final text.
The highly qualified officials of the Commissions and Sections of:
Ancona, Bologna, Bologna I, Brescia, Catania, Cagliari, Caserta, Crotone, Crotone I, Forlì-Cesena, Genoa, Lecce, Livorno, Milan, Monza, Rome III, Naples, Novara, Padua, Palermo, Perugia, Syracuse, Turin , Turin II, Turin III, Trieste, Udine, represented by Florence and Verona
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