Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Majorino: "Minister Salvini wants a series B integration and for this reason he has not defined the rules for the new centers, leaving the municipalities in uncertainty and forcing them to focus on the large centers where there is a risk of poor integration"

Milan, June 22 2019 – The Municipality of Milan, through a resolution, approved the expression of interest in continuing reception within the Sprar system, now called Siproimi (protection system for holders of international protection and for unaccompanied foreign minors), after the the entry into force of the security decree. At the same time, the Administration withdrew the application to extend this service, which currently hosts 422 people, up to a thousand places, an obligatory choice given the regulatory uncertainty of this phase.

“The Milanese system of reception of asylum seekers and refugees, which over the years has demonstrated that it can be a virtuous model for the whole country – explains the councilor for social policies Pierfrancesco Majorino – is put in difficulty due to the guilty silence of the Ministry of 'The Interior which, after approving a security decree which effectively canceled the Sprar, failed to define the new rules, abandoning local authorities in a limbo of uncertainty and forcing them not to close the large centers where there is a risk of poor integration. Minister Salvini wants migrants wearing hats around the city to beg. His is a clear and lucid political plan: less integration produces a greater feeling of insecurity. A very harmful political plan."

On 26 September 2018, the Administration forwarded the request to the Ministry of the Interior to expand second level reception, going from 422 to a thousand places in the Sprar system, to the detriment of the first level guaranteed in the CAS (extraordinary reception centers ) municipal. The objective was to focus on quality hospitality that identified the focal point of the project in the activities aimed at integration (Italian or job placement courses, for example). No communication followed that question. On 4 October 2018, the so-called security decree was approved which changed the rules on immigration and reception, precluding, among other things, access to the Sprar system for asylum seekers regularly present in the area.

With a note dated 17 May 2019, the Ministry asked the Municipalities which, like Milan, did not intend to conclude the second reception projects by 31 December to express their interest in continuing, while maintaining a number of places equal to or lower than those already financed. It was therefore necessary for the Administrations to withdraw the previously submitted contribution request, so as not to run the risk of losing the entire financing.

“The Ministry of the Interior – continues councilor Majorino – postpones from October the definition of the rules that define the newborn Siproimi system, insists on the opening of large centers where it is impossible to carry out activities that favor integration and forces local administrations to exclude asylum seekers who can no longer be hosted despite having a regular residence permit, placing the responsibility of managing security on the municipalities with hundreds more homeless people on the streets. It is a disconcerting position that is putting the Milanese system to the test, which has so far held up very well, even during the landing emergency. The resolution approved by the Council adapts to a ministerial request, but the Administration reserves the right to evaluate participation in the new Siproimi reception projects when Minister Salvini deigns to communicate the rules of engagement to us because we are not willing to stand by who wants a second-class integration”.