Italy's Salvini gets win with new asylum and security rules
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS NOVEMBER 29, 2018 / 7:30 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Italy's Salvini gets win with new asylum and security rules
Steve Scherer
3 MIN READ
ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government passed a law that clamps down on asylum rights and boosts funds for police, handing Interior Minister and right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini his first major legislative win.
The lower house of parliament voted 396 to 99 late on Wednesday to pass the law championed by Salvini, who took office in June in a coalition with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.
The new law eliminates humanitarian grounds for granting protection to refugees asylum that is not tied to political persecution or war. It also funnels millions of euros to law enforcement and anti-mafia administrators.
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Italy will still award asylum to war refugees or victims of political persecution. But it will no longer hand out humanitarian asylum, which was given to those who had serious reasons to flee their home country - a category that has often included homosexuals fleeing harsh anti-gay laws in Africa.
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Read more:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-politics-immigration-security/italys-salvini-gets-win-with-new-asylum-and-security-rules-idUSKCN1NY1JN