"Vulnerabilities between legal concepts and social realities" in Marchetti S. & Palumbo L. (eds.), "Vulnerability in the Asylum and Protection System in Italy: Legal and Policy Framework and Implementing Practices".

This research report has been published as part of the EU Horizon 2020 research project (www.vulner.eu). The VULNER research project is an international research initiative, the objective of which is to reach a more profound understanding of the experiences of vulnerabilities of migrants applying for asylum and other humanitarian protection statuses, and how they could best be addressed. It therefore makes use of a twofold analysis, which contrasts the study of existing protection mechanisms for vulnerable migrants (such as minors and victims of human trafficking) with the experiences of migrants on the ground. This research report presents some of the intermediate research results of the VULNER project based on the first phase of the project. This phase consisted of mapping out the vulnerability assessment mech- anisms developed by state authorities in Italy, including how they are implemented on the ground through the practices of the public servants in charge. The following research questions are addressed: What do the relevant domestic legislation, case law, pol- icy documents, and administrative guidelines reveal about how ’vulnerabilities’ are being assessed and addressed in the countries under study? Do the relevant state and/or aid agencies have a legal duty to as- sess migrants’ vulnerabilities, and if yes, using which procedures, when and how? Following which legal and bureaucratic criteria? How do decision makers (street-level bureaucrats) understand and perceive the ‘vulnerabilities’ of the migrants they meet on a daily basis? How do they address these ‘vulnerabilities’ through their everyday practices? What is their stance on existing legal requirements towards ‘vulnerable’ migrants? What loopholes do they identify