Dozens of migrants recently escaped from reception centers and hotspots in central and southern Italy. In Umbria, 23 Tunisians escaped facilities to which they had been assigned to spend a quarantine period. They had all tested negative for COVID-19. Another 20 migrants fled a hotspot in Taranto.
The UN refugee agency is once again calling for the release of migrants from detention centers in Libya. According to UNHCR, there are eleven official centers holding over 2,300 people in Libya, and many unofficial facilities about which little is known.
Tunisian authorities in the course of two days blocked nine departures of at least 200 migrants who wanted to irregularly reach Italian coasts.
A human rights activist and former immigration detainee has warned that Europe is trying to copy Australia’s harsh asylum system. He says asylum seekers held in Australia's offshore processing centers suffer psychological abuse, trauma and racism.
Libyan coast guards have intercepted 71 migrants including women and children and returned them to the Libyan capital Tripoli, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
A group of migrants has filed a legal complaint against their arbitrary detention in the el Ouardia Center in Tunis. Four human rights groups have issued a statement saying that the facility is operating as an illegal detention center.
NGOs working in Tunisia have spoken out about the conditions of dozens of migrant held in a center in El Ouardia ''without knowing why they are detained'' and have urged the authorities to provide clarification on the matter.
The Italian Guarantor for the Rights of Detained Persons has reported that the situation of repatriation centers (CPR) remains stable, with the exception of facilities in Macomer, near Nuoro, and Gradisca di Isonzo, in the province of Gorizia, which are almost full.
Libya has illegally expelled at least 1,400 migrants and refugees this year, the UN human rights office says. The forced returns during the COVID-19 pandemic put migrants at risk of human rights violations and should be stopped, it says.
Italy's detainees rights guarantor has drawn attention to a 50% drop in migrants in repatriation centers (CPR) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there has been a rise in the number of migrants hosted in the country's hotspots.
In Britain, at least five new detainees have been sent to the Yarl's Wood immigration detention center, despite reports of a case of Covid-19 in the facility. A British charity says all women in the center should be immediately released.
Italy's national detainee rights guarantor has shown concern over the situation of migrants detained in Italian repatriation centers, arguing that keeping migrants in the facilities for longer than originally planned would curtail their freedom. Due to the spread of coronavirus, deportations to home countries are currently suspended.