Italian lawyer for immigration and international protection in this article will clarify the fundamental aspects of the application for international protection and the Geneva Convention.
Did the police stop you at the border? Are you at Milan Malpensa airport or Rome Fiumicino airport? Are you in the center for illegal immigrants in Bari?
Do you want to know what the application for international protection consists of? Do you want to know more about the Geneva Convention? If the answer is yes, read the article!
If you want to apply for international protection, you can get in touch with a lawyer specialized in immigration law in Italy available 24 hours a day.
Our law firm has already handled international protection cases and has professionals with experience in international protection and the Geneva Convention on its team.
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The Geneva Convention: when and why was it adopted
The Geneva Convention was created to grant stable legal status to foreigners or stateless persons who remained displaced or fugitive because they feared returning home after the political, ethnic and territorial upheavals that followed World War II and in the climate of the cold War.
The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was signed in Geneva on July 28, 1951 by 144 Contracting States (entered into force on April 22, 1954, ratified and applied in Italy by Law No. 722 of July 24, 1954 ). It defines the term “refugee” and specifies both the rights of migrants and the legal obligations of states to protect them.
The principle of non-refoulement
The fundamental principle is that of non-refoulement, according to which no refugee can be returned to a country where his life or freedom could be seriously threatened. Today, it is now considered a standard of customary international law.
The definition of a refugee according to the Geneva Convention
A refugee is defined in Article 1 of the Geneva Convention as a person who have
well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
What is international protection?
International protection is the set of norms aimed at guaranteeing and protecting the fundamental rights of the person forced to flee the country of citizenship or habitual residence for well-founded fear of suffering personal persecution or serious harm; it is obviously valid when you are in one of the States in which the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is in force.
International protection includes refugee status and subsidiary protection status.
This institute responds to a humanitarian need to protect all human beings from the persecution that they may suffer in other countries.
The beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of the international protection are:
· foreigners, that means, those who have the citizenship of third States;
· stateless persons, that means, those whom no State, on the basis of its legal system, considers its own citizens.
What are the forms of international protection?
Forms of international protection
The institution of international protection comprises two distinct legal categories:
Refugee: the refugee is a foreign citizen who, due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group or a specific political opinion, is outside the territory of the country of which he is a citizen and cannot avail himself of the protection of this country.
Subsidiary protection: People who are eligible for subsidiary protection are foreign citizens who cannot apply for refugee status. This category includes those who cannot prove that they are the object of specific acts of persecution, but who, nevertheless, if they returned to their country of origin, would run the real risk of serious harm and who therefore cannot or ( precisely because of this risk) they do not want to avail themselves of the protection of the country of origin.
The serious damage necessary for the request for subsidiary protection
It is considered serious damage:
· The sentence of death or execution;
· Torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment against the applicant in his country of origin;
· The serious and individual threat to life resulting from indiscriminate violence in situations of internal or international armed conflict.
What are the procedures for filing an application for international protection?
Italian lawyer for immigration and international protection explains to you the procedure to apply for international protection.
International protection is individual and can be requested at the border police office at the time of entry in Italy or at the competent police station, depending on the applicant’s place of residence.
The applicant must present all the elements and documents in his possession necessary to justify his request. The absence of documents related to your identity or other important elements related to your status as an asylum seeker does not constitute grounds for inadmissibility or denial.
There is no deadline for submitting an application for international protection.
Therefore, an application for protection cannot be rejected or excluded for the sole reason that it was not submitted on time.
Once the applicant has been subjected to the photo-signaling procedure, the police proceed to register the application, which is then transmitted to the competent Territorial Commission for the recognition of international protection.
The applicant has the right to remain in Italy until a decision is made on his application for protection or, in the case of judicial appeal, during the period during which he is authorized to remain in the territory.
In addition, the receipt that proves the presentation of the application for international protection constitutes a temporary residence permit, valid in the national territory for a period of six months. This permit is renewable until the application is decided.
Read here the practical guide for Asylum seekers to apply for international protection.
Why consult an Italian lawyer for immigration and international protection and the Geneva Convention?
If you are a foreigner or stateless and want to apply for international protection or want to know if you are in a position to apply for international protection, you can write to Criminal Lawyers H24 – an international law firm who will examine your case and provide you with the assistance you need.
If you need legal assistance or advice on the international protection of the Geneva Convention, you can get in touch with the team of Criminal Lawyers H24. Our team of italian lawyers for immigration and international protection can count on lawyers who are experts in international law and in the Geneva Convention to present the request for protection .