Italy is facing a mounting controversy over its asylum system, following claims that a limited network of immigration lawyers is making hundreds of thousands of pounds through legal aid work tied to deportation appeals, often arguing their clients are homosexual in order to trigger European human rights laws and prevent expulsions.
According to reporting by Il Giornale, a handful of attorneys — many associated with the left-wing pro-migrant Association for Judicial Studies on Immigration (ASGI) — handle a disproportionate share of cases in migrant detention centers across the country.
These include facilities in Rome, Milan, Turin, Bari, and Caltanissetta, as well as a site in Gjadër, Albania, where one off-site reception center is located.
The report claims that in some centers, the majority of cases are handed to one or two lawyers, raising concerns about a de facto monopoly over state-funded legal assistance. Critics argue that this system has created strong financial incentives, with the Italian newspaper alleging that lawyers are generating substantial annual earnings through repeat appeals.
Many of the defenses to deportation rely on the same legal strategy — asserting that a migrant would face persecution in their home country due to their homosexuality, a protected ground under European human rights law that can block deportation. Other appeals reportedly focus on risks such as family abuse or social persecution if returned.
According to Il Giornale, members of the governing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party have called for an investigation after allegations that lawmakers from left-wing parties advised detained migrants to contact specific lawyers during a parliamentary visit to a facility in Albania.
MP Sara Kelany said the claims, if confirmed, would be “deeply troubling,” while Augusta Montaruli questioned whether links between legal professionals and oversight bodies could compromise impartiality. Senators Marco Lisei and Raffaele Speranzon also described the allegations as serious and called for clarification.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s Lega party has also weighed in, with MEP Anna Maria Cisint accusing the political left of gaming the system in favor of illegal migrants, and MP Andrea Crippa demanding answers over the reported lawyer recommendations.
Italy isn’t the only European nation where asylum claims based on sexual orientation have often dominated legal battles over deportation.
In Austria, a Russian-Tajik dual national was granted asylum after stating he would face persecution due to his homosexuality, a claim introduced during an appeal before the Federal Administrative Court in Vienna back in October 2024. It later transpired that the migrant had fathered five children. The ruling sparked backlash from the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), with Vienna party leader Maximilian Krauss calling it a “judicial scandal.”
In the United Kingdom, a Nigerian asylum seeker who claimed persecution for being gay was later convicted of fraud after being found guilty of being the mastermind behind a €252,000 Facebook and eBay parcel scam. He, too, had fathered three children by three different women, and married a woman in the U.K. after his arrival.
In the Netherlands, a Syrian national convicted of sexually assaulting four 11-year-old girls in a swimming pool cited his sexual orientation in proceedings linked to his immigration status.
Most recently, in Germany, the Iraqi killer of 16-year-old Ukrainian refugee Liana K., who was pushed in front of a freight train in Friedland, had made similar claims of homosexuality after arriving in Europe via Lithuania. He claimed he risked execution back home, and further made uncorroborated claims he had been raped at an asylum center in Lithuania before arriving in Germany. He was ultimately found not criminally responsible for Liana’s death and was placed in a psychiatric facility.
