Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi
on Wednesday announced new rules for assessing and determining
the age of unaccompanied foreign minors arriving in Italy.
"Many migrants arrive in Italy declaring a lower age in order to
take advantage of the protections provided for minors," said
Piantedosi during question time in the Lower House.
"The numbers of unaccompanied foreign minors, or those claiming
to be such, have grown disproportionately", placing
"unsustainable pressure on the reception system" and making it
necessary to "reflect" on the existing regulatory framework, he
continued.
Unaccompanied foreign minors arriving in Italy are currently
offered protection under a 2017 law that has been held up as a
model of child protection internationally.
The law introduced among other things a uniform age assessment
procedure for minors arriving in Italy on their own and
established that an individual should always be considered a
minor in the event of doubt.
Piantedosi did not say what the new rules would entail, although
recent reports suggest that the government may be considering
reversing the burden of proof so that in the event of doubt a
self-declared minor could be considered an adult unless they can
prove otherwise.
However, he told lawmakers that "the interventions (that) are
being defined to resolve the critical issues" would be "in full
compliance with domestic and international law and the rights of
the child".
"We do not want to reduce protection in any way, but rather to
speed up procedures and avoid consuming the resources allocated
to minors, focusing them on those that really have the right to
them," he said.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
