Domenico Lucano was the mayor of the Calabrian town of Riace for 15 consecutive years. He became world-famous for his migrant-hosting and integration policies. In October 2018, he was suspended and forbidden from returning to the town while investigations against him were underway. Now the latest trial against him has begun in the municipal court in Locri.
In Austria, asylum judges who mostly hear appeals from men are more lenient towards women appearing in court. A recent study has also found that female judges are more likely than male judges to grant asylum.
The German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia has deported three men from Bosnia Herzegovina, who had been classified as Islamist threats.
Italian anti-mafia investigators,(DDA) have arrested 13 suspects as part of an operation against an alleged Nigerian mafia gang. The gang is accused of managing a human trafficking and prostitution ring. Police said aspiring members had to take part in brutal “initiation rites” to become part of the gang.
The highest Italian court of cassation has ruled that Riace Mayor Domenico Lucano did not commit fraud. The judges also annulled the residency ban against Lucano in Riace.
The Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI) has announced that the first appeals by foreigners living in Italy will soon be filed against the ''discriminatory'' nature of a basic income introduced in the country.
Authorities in Greece are being sued over the death of a migrant on Lesbos. It is the first time anyone has demanded compensation for the conditions suffered by refugees on the island.
Persons who have been granted protection in Germany will have to actively provide information and help in other ways as well when their cases are reassessed. Before this recent change to the law, asylum seekers did not have to partake in such procedures.
A trial of 32 guards and workers accused of abusing refugees and migrants at a reception center in 2014 has started. The case in the small western town of Burbach has triggered widespread outrage and has forced regional governments to reassess the standards at such facilities.
A trio of foreign activists appeared in French court on Thursday for illegally assisting a group of migrants trying to cross into France from Italy. French society is divided over the crackdown on activists trying to help migrants on the move.
The bill aims to ease bureaucracy, support migrant integration and speed up deportations, among other measures. But it was not without controversy on the left, right and within Emmanuel Macron's governing LREM party.
With a order issued on January 22, 2018, the Nice Administrative Court declared for the first time that the practice of immediately sending back unaccompanied migrant minors at the border with Italy is lllegal. The decision sanctioned French authorities for "a serious violation of the higher interests of the minors," governed by human rights conventions and international laws.