Towards a reception system that recognizes, addresses and reduces the situations of vulnerability of asylum seekers and refugees in Italy

The VULNER project conducted an extensive inquiry in eight countries – in Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Norway), the Middle-East (Lebanon), Africa (Uganda and South Africa), and North America (Canada). The inquiry thus covered a variety of policy contexts, ranging from humanitarian responses in first countries of asylum (Lebanon and Uganda) to asylum and other related processes addressing the protection needs of migrants in Western countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Norway). The objective was to gain a better understanding of the multiple challenges, promises, and pitfalls of relying on ‘vulnerability’ as a conceptual tool to design and implement institutional responses to migrants’ protection needs. Based on the results of the second research phase (2021-2022) in Italy, this policy brief proposes concrete policy recommendations on how to design migration and asylum policies in Italy, which effectively consider and address the vulnerabilities among refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.