Italy (Brussels Morning) The Prefecture of Messina has been awarded European Funds FAMI 2014-2020 thanks to the approval by the Ministry of the Interior of the Project “SPID – Support for the Promotion of Inclusion and Rights”, and the municipality of Messina will be one of the twenty entities to join the initiative: 17 municipalities of the Peloritana province, the University of Messina, the Police Headquarters, and the Local Health Authority 5.
The goal? “To improve the functionality of local services to promote social inclusion pathways for migrants present in the Messina province territory through the promotion of interventions that strengthen inter-institutional synergies and standardize the respective operational procedures”.
To achieve this goal, the University of Messina has drafted a memorandum of understanding to be signed by the interested parties, an agreement that, regarding local authorities, provides for “the activation of dedicated desks for the reception of migrants, also to carry out orientation activities for the services available in the territory and provide, also through the guidelines referred to in the above point, any useful information on the subject”.
The aforementioned point in the agreement refers to “clear guidelines that illustrate the necessary steps for issuing identity cards to migrants to standardize the procedures for issuing the document to migrants themselves”. A document that will be drawn up under the coordination of the Municipality of Messina, as it has been entrusted by the Prefecture of Messina already in a preliminary phase to the signing of the memorandum of understanding.
The objective is to improve the functionality of local services to encourage social inclusion paths for migrants present in the Messina provincial territory. Another 16 municipalities joined the initiative financed by the Ministry of the Interior to the Prefecture of Messina, plus the University of Messina, the Police Headquarters, and the Asp 5.
Together with Messina, the other signatory municipalities of the memorandum of understanding are those of Barcellona P.G., Capo D’orlando, Castroreale, Francavilla di Sicilia, Fondachelli Fantina, Giardini Naxos, Milazzo, Montalbano Elicona, Oliveri, Pace del Mela, Rodì Milici, San Salvatore di Fitalia, Santa Domenica Vittoria, Sant’angelo di Brolo, Terme Vigliatore, and Tusa.
As for the duties of the Provincial Health Authority of Messina, with the signing of the agreement, it undertakes to “create guidelines illustrating the necessary steps for the issuance of the ‘STP’ (Foreigner Temporarily Present) document, to be disseminated to CAS and SAI operators and any other social operators, as well as to all territorial branches”; as well as to “accelerate the timing for the issuance of this document, with particular regard to that intended for MSNA, to ensure the right to access urgent and essential services and care for migrants”. Finally, the Health Authority commits to “implementing services dedicated to migrants by establishing a dedicated desk, also in peripheral offices, to ensure homogeneous assistance throughout the territory”.
The Police Headquarters of Messina, on the other hand, will have to “create clear guidelines illustrating the necessary steps for issuing various types of residence permits” and “provide indications in this regard also to CAS and SAI managers and operators and any other entity and associations involved in the reception services for the migrant population”.
Finally, the commitment made by the University of Messina, besides having drafted the memorandum of understanding itself, consists in “creating, in agreement with the Prefecture of Messina, a digital platform, already in use at the CEMI, for the systematic collection of ‘best practices’ related to the projects of local authorities in the field of immigration and reception, to which all interested entities will be able to access both for consultation and the insertion of any useful information regarding projects and/or new public tenders, to guarantee the maximum dissemination of positive experiences on the subject”.
Not only that, Unime will also “collaborate with the Prefecture of Messina in promoting research, training, and dissemination activities aimed at supporting the integration of foreign citizens, promoting initiatives to increase the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate access to services and social inclusion of migrants”; and “provide for the publication of an annual report on the consistency of the migrant population in the province of Messina to make available to the territory informative assets useful for the realization of reception and inclusion initiatives adhering to the needs mapped out based on statistical data provided by the Prefecture of Messina”.
