(ANSA) - Rome, March 11 - Foreigners without permission to live in Italy must be expelled from the country, even if they have young children at school from whom they will be separated, the supreme court said on Thursday.

Italy's highest appeals tribunal, the Court of Cassation, expressly overturned its own previous rulings that indicated the welfare of children was paramount in such cases. Rejecting an appeal by an Albanian national, whose pregnant wife is expecting their third child, the court said the man's situation was not sufficiently "exceptional" to prevent his expulsion under Italian immigration law. The Albanian father had argued that the enforced separation from his children would be an "emotional trauma" that would hamper their psychological development and their educational performance.

But the court ruled that authorities are only able to overlook illegal residency for a limited period of time and "only when there are serious concerns linked to the psychological and physical development of a minor arising from an emergency situation". It said that the impact of a separation on a long-term, ongoing process in a child's life, such as its education, could not be characterized as an "emergency".

"The fact that children are doing well at school and have formed stable friendships is neither exceptional nor temporary," the court said. In the judges' view, any finding suggesting a child's education amounted to an "exceptional circumstance" would "give foreign families clearance to exploit childhood". The Albanian man's family are all legally resident in Italy and his wife is shortly expected to receive Italian citizenship.

The ruling appears to reverse at least two previous decisions by the same court, one of which from January.

In both earlier cases, the judges stressed that a child's welfare should take precedence over a parent's immigration status. But in the latest decision, the supreme court described the previous rulings as "reductive" in that "they focused entirely on safeguarding the needs of minors and failed to insert this concern within the wider legislative framework". The decision drew an angry response from opposition politicians, who suggested it was confusing, contradictory and failed to give sufficient weight to the wellbeing of the children involved. Two deputies with the largest opposition group, the centre-left Democratic Party, said the decision violated "all international conventions". "It is a serious error making expulsion the priority, as it condemns the children along with the parents," said Jean Leonard Touadui and Guido Melis in a joint statement. Communist Refoundation leader and former minister Paolo Ferrero described the ruling as "inhumane and aberrant", adding: "I thought Italy was meant to be the country that defended the family". Antonio Borghesi, Deputy House Whip for the small Italy of Values party, said the decision was a product of "racist immigration laws" and the "climate of intolerance stirred up by the current government". The immigration spokesman for the Italian Communists Party, Maurizio Musolino, described the ruling as "another step towards barbarity", which had left him "aghast". But Cabinet Undersecretary Carlo Giovanardi, who holds the family portfolio, said he agreed with the ruling, emphasizing that the court reached its decisions on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, he added, "it would be a devastating and unacceptable outcome if the instant expulsion caused a drop in the children's productivity at school".

Nevertheless, he added, "it would be a devastating and unacceptable outcome if the instant expulsion caused a drop in the children's productivity at school".

Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said the decision was a "fair one". "The faults of the parents should not fall on the children but there can be no justification for using and exploiting children to circumvent situations of illegality," she said. Organizations working with children and migrants also weighed into the debate. The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, said the ruling created "further chaos" in Italy's immigration laws. "Italian legislation is already contradictory and now the Court of Cassation is also reaching contrasting conclusions," said UNICEF Italia Director Roberto Salvan, adding that the "impact of the separation from their father on the children in question should not be underestimated".

The head of the Italian section of the international Terre des Hommes children's federation, described the ruling as "a glaring step backward for Italy". "Forcibly separating children, particularly foreign youngsters, from their parents places them in an extremely vulnerable position," said Raffaele Salinari. But the immigration spokesman for the leading Catholic charity Caritas, Olivero Forti, said although the decision was disappointing, it did not mean the underlying principle had been overturned. "The Court of Cassation looks at each case individually," he said. "I think in this specific instance it simply concluded that the children's wellbeing would not be damaged".