Immigration, asylum for those who go into debt to leave and risk slavery if they return

The international protection must be guaranteed to the immigrant who indebtedly pays for his journey to Italy, and risks being reduced into slavery to return the money if he returns to his country of origin. The Cassazione has thus upheld the appeal of a Bangladeshi citizen who, despite having only two pay slips to his name and therefore not being able to prove that he has a stable job, denounced the risk of ending up a victim of debt bondage. A widespread phenomenon in Bangladesh, the plaintiff's place of origin, as well as in Pakistan, which entails a labour bondage until the restitution of what is owed, or rather demanded. A debt that, in reality, can rarely be repaid as the creditors are usurers.

The "bonded labour", the ermines emphasise, is thus a valid reason to grant subsidiary protection, even in the absence of the other requirements (integration, work, etc.) to those who resort to these loans to leave and escape extreme poverty. Of course, the danger of having one's dignity compromised, due to inhuman and degrading treatment comparable to persecution, such as "slavery for debt", must be proven.

In the case examined, the Bangladeshi citizen had described and documented not only the phenomenon of 'bonde labour' but also that of 'land grabbing, of which his family had been victims. Further indications, not considered by the judge, had been provided with the Country of Origin information concerning the phenomenon of usury. The Court of Cassation therefore annulled the decision with referral and invited the judges to review their decision in light of the information ignored in the first instance.