Italy: Over 180 asylum seekers homeless in Trieste, associations say

Rome: A number of pro-migrant associations in the north-eastern Italian city of Trieste have complained that the authorities appear to have left a group of around 180 asylum seekers homeless and with no proper welfare assistance.

More than 180 asylum seekers in the area of Trieste are not under the care of the hosting system and are forced to live without assistance and proper housing, according to the Italian Consortium of Solidarity (ICS), the Waldensian community, the International Rescue Committee and the Italian Council for Refugees.

The organizations called out the “grave” failure of institutions to provide assistance and the “absence of a structured program” to manage the phenomenon.

Speaking at a meeting on Tuesday, August 5, representatives of the associations explained that “in 2022, 2023 and 2024, in Trieste”, no assistance had been provided in a number of cases, calling such failure a “grave phenomenon.”

Since June 2024, “we have observed an improvement of the situation,” also thanks to the “systematic transfer twice a week of asylum seekers to other cities (some 60 people every week), stated the organizations.

However, since June 2025, such a practice has sharply slowed down, with transfers that only occur once a week (some 35-40 people a week).

“The situation has become very problematic, even for the most vulnerable people who have been abandoned in the street while waiting for a hosting place, even though they have formalized their request for protection in Trieste.”

The associations highlighted that “the Prefecture of Trieste has so far failed to offer any alternative measure, even a temporary one” for these people.

“On July 28, at least 85 people were reported to be without assistance, in addition to 10 people with vulnerable situations; as of July 30, 111 asylum seekers (single men) and 13 vulnerable cases” had been reported, they added.

And on Monday, August 4, “the number of asylum seekers without housing included 173 single men, two single women and four families with children,” they stressed.

“The very quick deterioration of the situation regarding hosting failures in Trieste is being reported for the fourth consecutive year as a humanitarian crisis requiring the immediate intervention of authorities that have so far failed to comply,” the associations concluded.