The European Commission has asked Italy to guarantee an effective and human repatriation program. Last week, Italy had announced a new decree to accelerate the expulsion of migrants from 'safe countries' who have no right to stay.
The Gay Center, an organization for LGBT rights in Italy, has expressed concern over a new decree concerning asylum seekers. A Gay Center spokesman on Monday said that countries offering no protection to LGBT people or those criminalizing same-sex relationships are listed as 'safe' countries of origin in the new repatriation program.
The Italian government has presented a new asylum decree, which would see the waiting time for an asylum decision cut from two years to just four months, resulting in faster repatriations in applicable cases. Speaking at a press conference in Rome, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said the decree would also update the list of countries considered safe for repatriations.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said that thus far this year, there have been 5,044 forced repatriations of migrants who did not have the right to stay in Italy. she added that more than 200 voluntary returns had also taken place.
The Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia is ready to propose a project to create measures for migrant repatriation. Five million euros are earmarked for the project which is financed by the interior ministry's 2014-2020 Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (FAMI).
Twenty-eight migrants were released from a migrant repatriation center in Rome after a fire broke out following a protest in recent days. The protest was set off by the arrival of a Nigerian diplomat called to help repatriations as well as a ban on the use of cell phones.
Migrant landings in Italy have plunged by almost 80%, but the number of repatriations has also gone down slightly, according to data released by the interior ministry on August 15. Migrant repatriations from the country have decreased by 0.7%. and the number of assisted repatriations has more than halved, the ministry said.
Recent law changes in Germany make it easier to hold rejected asylum seekers in detention. But what exactly is deportation detention, how is it different from departure custody, and what's behind the separation precept?
Following the deadly air strike that hit a migrant detention center in Libya’s capital Tripoli, aid organizations including MSF and UNHCR are becoming increasingly worried about and critical of the situation at refugee detention centers in Libya. They call on the EU, which is defending its course, to cancel their cooperation with Libya's coast guard.
Italy's ombudsman for the rights of detainees has said that some 2,839 foreign nationals were repatriated from the country in the first 6 months of 2019 and that roughly 5,600-6,000 are expected to be repatriated by the end of the year.
The Italian Guarantor for the Rights of Detained Persons visited repatriation centers (CPR) in Rome, Potenza, Bari, and Brindisi, and said migrants are living in deplorable conditions. It called on the government to take action.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has reiterated his demand that all Afghans obliged to leave the country shall be deported to Afghanistan. Right now, only criminal offenders and people who disguised their identity can be sent back to the country.