A/HRC/4/19/Add.4 page 13 23. Foreigners illegally entering or staying in Italy who fail to meet the requirements provided by the law, or for reasons of public order or national security may be rejected at the border, returned under escort to the frontier, expelled, or receive an expulsion order to leave the country within 5 or 15 days. When rejection or expulsion is not immediately enforceable, illegal immigrants are held in a CPTA for a maximum period of 60 days, as extended by the Bossi-Fini Law.18 24. Administrative orders for expulsion are validated by a judge of the peace. Appeals may be filed, though this does not suspend the person’s removal. Failure to obey the injunction to leave or the expulsion order is a criminal offence punishable by between one and five years’ imprisonment.19 The presence of foreign nationals in prisons has increased considerably in recent years, accounting in some cases for 50 per cent of the prison population. In May 2006, of the 20,230 foreign prisoners (33 per cent of the total prison population) 11,590 were released in implementation of the collective pardon provided in Law No. 241/2006. The remaining 8,640 foreign prisoners come mainly from Morocco, Albania, Tunisia, Romania and countries of the former Yugoslavia. 25. Italian authorities have emphasized the importance of integration, though they have acknowledged that assimilation was the model that had been followed so far. Italian authorities place particular importance on knowledge of the language and the acceptance of Italian values as contained in the Constitution, such as equality between men and women, as a basis for the integration of foreigners. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur was informed about an ongoing process by which “a charter of values, in consultation with all communities, is to be drafted to provide for a common framework to allow a cohabitation model”.20 The Government has also announced its intention to reform the immigration legislation in force. In November, the Council of Ministers submitted a bill to Parliament, in which legal or illegal migrants who were victims of abuse and exploitation in the agricultural and construction sectors would be granted a special stay permit on the same terms as victims of trafficking. The Minister of the Interior has set up a commission to identify ad hoc actions to fight violence against and exploitation of foreign workers. The draft law also foresees penal and civil sanctions ranging from one to eight years’ imprisonment and a fine of 9,000 euros, respectively. E. Asylum 26. From 1990 to 2006, Italy examined 142,198 petitions for the recognition of refugee status. During the 1990s, the Balkans, mainly Albania and the former Yugoslavia, was the place of origin of the majority of asylum-seekers; it was gradually replaced by countries of sub-Saharan and Central Africa, the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Somalia, as well as Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2005-2006, 19,655 asylum petitions were examined. 18 See articles 10, 13-16 of the Consolidated Act as per Legislative Decree 286/1998. 19 See article 12 of the Consolidated Act as amended by the Bossi-Fini Law. 20 Information shared with the Special Rapporteur during his meeting with the Minister and officials of the Ministry of Rights and Equal Opportunities.