The circular of the Ministry of the Interior of 21 April 2021 must be revoked
This is what is asked in a letter sent to the Prime Minister, to the Ministries of the Interior, of Health, of Labor and Agriculture from the following organisations involved in the protection of the rights of migrants: ASGI, Amnesty International Italia, ARCI, ACLI, Oxfam Italia, ActionAid, Centro Astalli, Senza Confine, CNCA, Europasilo, Intersos, Casa Dei Diritti Sociali, Medici del Mondo Italia, SIMM, MEDU, Medici contro la tortura, Forum per Cambiare l’Ordine delle Cose, Sanità di Frontiera, ActionAid, Fondazione Migrantes, Federazione delle Chiese Evangeliche in Italia, A Buon Diritto Onlus, Comunità di Sant’Egidio and the campaign Ero Straniero.
Despite the considerable delay with which the examination of the requests for emergence proceeds and the seriousness of the situation that has arisen, the Ministry of the Interior, with a circular issued on 21 April 2021, creates new and further obstacles, instead of favoring the emergence of the more than 200,000 people who started the procedure. The provisions contained in the circular are illegitimate because they are in contrast with the regulations in force, which provide that “if the employment relationship ends, even in the case of a seasonal contract, a permit for awaiting employment must be issued, thanks to which the interested party can look for another job.”
Above all, these provisions are illogical in light of the dual purpose declared by the legislator. “Regularisation constitutes – by the same indication of the law that provided it – the tool to guarantee the regularity of the stay and an adequate health standard for thousands of people who have lived and worked in Italy for a long time, and must not become a matter of political dispute, to the detriment of their existences,” quote the associations that wish the conclusion of the administrative proceedings pending for almost a year, and without further upheavals at the hands of circulars or ministerial interpretations.
The ‘innovative’ hypotheses of rejection for the requests for emergence contained in the circular of 21 April 2021 are also contrary to previous administrative circulars of the same Ministry of the Interior. The associations urge in the letter to the Ministries and the Government – “If not immediately withdrawn,” this “risks further compromising the already fragile application of the law of a special nature, of regularisation / emergence of the legal status of foreign workers and of the same employment relationships concerned.”
For this reason, the signatories of the letter ask that the circular of 21 April 2021 be immediately revoked and that precise indications be circulated to the Police Headquarters that clarify that:
- in the event of termination of the employment relationship with which the emersion procedure was initiated, a permit for awaiting employment be issued, unless it is proven that the application was not presented instrumentally for the issuance of the residence permit;
- there are no categorical limits in accessing new employment with a different employer.