Fortunately the rules are not the EU’s to modify and the UK authorities need to impress that fact.
The 1967 Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees governs such matters. Article 31 of that Convention says this:
“The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.”
So, they have to come directly from a place where they are under threat and they must present themselves without delay to the authorities when they reach safety. They are under no threat in Italy (indeed many of them are under no threat in the place they started their journey) so have no right to claim asylum anywhere else.
Article 31 goes on:
“The Contracting States shall not apply to the movements of such refugees restrictions other than those which are necessary and such restrictions shall only be applied until their status in the country is regularized or they obtain admission into another country.”
So, it’s OK for them to move around in Italy but they must obtain leave to move to another country.
Not surprisingly the EU is trying to suggest, as far as this matter goes, that the Union is one nation state. The “refugees” are thus allowed to roam around the continent at will. Of course this has been facilitated by the Schengen Agreement to which the UK is not a signatory. The EU is thus frustrated in its aim to foist the UK’s “fair share” of the invasion onto these shores.
This situation is entirely of the EU’s making. It has become well known in Africa that free movement across the continent opens a host of opportunities for those wanting a “better life”. The drawbacks of Schengen were well highlighted before its inception but the warnings went unheeded. There is no earthly reason why the UK should now be compelled to suffer from the stupidity that its European “partners” refused to acknowledge.