L'asilo nel 2015. Le politiche dell'Unione Europea e la posizione dell'Italia

The following contribution reflects on the nature and possible impact of the policies put in place by the European Union (EU) to confront the rising tide of asylum seekers in 2015. The first section describes, in numerical terms, the extent of the global crisis of asylum and its effect on countries that belong to the EU. The second section recounts the actions undertaken by European countries to confront the crisis, with particular emphasis on the initiatives adopted to relocate a portion of the asylum seekers from countries in which they land initially (Italy, Greece) to other member states and the complementary actions adopted in support of those states. The third section evaluates possible pitfalls of those initiatives for Italy in light of problematic procedural principles and immigration policies particular to the Italian system for seekers of asylum. Finally, the concluding section considers some of the principal aspects on which the common European system for seekers of asylum should be refocused to render the system more equitable and efficient, in particular, the reform of the Dublin Regulation and the mutual recognition of decisions related to seekers of asylum across the EU.