E/CN.4/2005/85/Add.3 page 18 75. The Special Rapporteur would also like to express her concern at reports she received on the living and working conditions of some 1,400 asylum-seekers in Stornara, Borgo Mezzanone and Rignano (Foggia). It seems that these people, who are apparently doing farm work although they hold valid residence permits issued following their applications for asylum, are abused by their employers and live in settlements in totally unhygienic conditions. Unaccompanied minors 76. Unaccompanied foreign minors are acknowledged to have all basic rights, subject to the same conditions as abandoned Italian children. They are under the protection of the Juvenile Court and are assisted by the local authorities if they cannot return home. An unaccompanied minor who goes to the authorities receives a temporary residence permit and can remain in Italy until the Foreign Minors’ Committee can ensure the best possible conditions, in the child’s best interest, for his repatriation. If return is not possible, Act No. 189/2002 allows study or work permits to be issued to unaccompanied young people who attain their majority and, with the Commission’s approval, have remained in Italy for three years, being part of an integration project for at least two. The provision is not often applied, since the majority of unaccompanied minors are said to be over 15 when they enter Italy. For this reason, the Lombardy Region is said to have suggested that the Central Government should include such minors in the annual quotas of non-EU foreign workers. 77. The President of the Committee reported that most such minors are Romanians, Moroccans and, to a lesser extent, Albanians. In his opinion an excellent level of collaboration with the countries of origin was required. He acknowledged that there had been difficulties in identifying 1,929 minors. 78. The Special Rapporteur observed with concern the situation of unaccompanied minors from Central Africa who had been refused asylum, as in the case of the teenaged girls in Stazione Tiburtina. She also received detailed reports about unaccompanied minors from Morocco, Republic of Moldova and Romania being forced by criminal organizations or private persons to beg, sell drugs or prostitute themselves. These minors had no protection, were not in school and lived in shacks or abandoned buildings in extremely unsanitary conditions. IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A. Conclusions 79. The reform introduced by Act No. 189/2002 has made efforts to combat illegal immigration a strategic priority in migration issues, but has imposed severe restrictions on the entry of aliens and limited a series of rights for immigrants already in the country. For this reason, the Special Rapporteur welcomes judgement No. 222 of the Constitutional Court. 80. The Special Rapporteur considers that the availability of work in the Italian underground economy is the main cause of illegal immigration to Italy. The special regularization processes are proof that there is extensive unsatisfied demand for manpower which cannot be resolved through the individual contract system based on maximum quotas.