Migrants, the Meloni government talks about invasion but this is a humanitarian crisis

Between 13 and 14 September, almost 7 thousand migrants landed on Lampedusa in 48 hours, putting into crisis the political approach to the management of migratory flows of the Meloni Government which, immediately after taking office, issued a series of decrees, according to the executive to combat illegal immigration, but which in practice eliminate access to the rights of foreign citizens.The most sensible decision would have been not to dismantle the Sprar system and guarantee widespread reception throughout the national territory, to first and foremost avoid overcrowding at border hotspots and provide concrete assistance to migrants.

Migrants, the solution is not to stop the departures but to reform a reception system that fuels illegal immigration

They sound more and more out of reality statements of the Prime Minister who expressed her satisfaction with the teamwork of the entire Government to deal with "the immigration emergency and to find concrete solutions to the strong pressure exerted by the flows of irregular immigrants on our coasts".Almost as if to suggest that the objective of the crossing of hundreds of foreigners every day is to put pressure on the Italian coasts, not to escape from conflicts, poverty and environmental degradation.

A few days earlier, on 15 September, the Prime Minister had spoken in a video of a "paradigm shift" which is nothing other than the mass rejection of migrants and the "defence of external borders".In 6 minutes of speech there is not even a reference to the question of human rights - Meloni calls them "ideological interests", the existence of a oppressive regime in Tunisia and a chilling message is sent to migrants:“If you enter Italy illegally you will be detained and repatriated.”

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And it goes in this direction disconcerting arrangement published in the Official Journal which asks asylum seekers (who do not want to be detained in a repatriation center until the outcome of the examination of the appeal against the rejection of the application) to pay a sort of deposit of almost 5 thousand euros.A kind of blackmail that goes against the European rules that regulate political asylum and which also demonstrates that asylum seekers enter the CPR, contrary to what Meloni said", as he points out the jurist Vitalba Azzolini.

Meloni's tone matches the statements of Minister Lollobrigida who he had fished out the conspiracy theory of “ethnic substitution” or with those of Minister Salvini who defined the arrival of migrants on our coasts as a “act of war”:a story that the right and far right across the globe are increasingly fond of.In a climate of closure to dialogue in Europe and of lack of solidarity between countries, the executive continues with a hard fist, or rather with the total political inability to manage migratory flows in compliance with international law.Meanwhile, the European mediator, Emily O'Reilly, opened an investigation on respect for human rights in the agreement signed by the EU and Tunisia on July 16 this year.

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Strengthening the CPR system 

The direction towards which this Government is placing all its forces has found expression in the resolution on the Southern Decree, published yesterday in the Official Journal, with which the executive on 18 September he announced further restrictions to combat irregular entries into Italy.The decree provides for extending "as permitted by European Union legislation" to 18 months the period of stay in the CPR (Repatriation Permanence Centres) of non-asylum seeking foreigners for whom "specific needs" exist.The Government's intent is to repatriate as many migrants as possible;However, the numbers from 2014, the year in which the maximum stay was 18 months, to date, demonstrate that there is no correlation between length of stay in the centers and repatriations.

THE Permanence Centers for Repatriation they are structures supervised by soldiers, to which non-EU citizens without a regular document or who have already received an expulsion order are taken.Currently the limit of stay in the CPR is 3 months, which from now on will be extended with quarterly extensions;however, it is not explained on the basis of which elements will be extended and who will take care of them, given the enormous bureaucratic workload to which the public administration is subjected.

Again, the government's idea is to build a CPR in each Region (there are currently ten active centres):essentially, double the detention and detention facilities for irregular migrants, with the specification to carry them out “in sparsely populated and easily surveilled areas”.Given the project is practically unfeasible, there is already discussion about transferring the migrants to disused, abandoned barracks or even tent cities.

The CPR system was immediately a total failure in two respects:that of respect for fundamental rights of foreign citizens and that of repatriations, the objective for which they were created.In 2022, compared to 28 thousand expulsion orders, 2,900 foreign citizens were repatriated. Forced repatriations don't work, because the acceptance of the State of origin is necessary, which almost never decides to collaborate.However, when they collaborate, countries make agreements - essentially economic - with Italy to repatriate some citizens.

Migrants, a Europe that builds walls instead of bridges

Reading the newspapers of the last few days it is very clear that the "migrant issue" is of concern only for one aspect:do not let migrants disembark in Italy.And in addition to the illusion of being able to tame and control migratory flows, it shows total indifference towards the real issue behind immigration:respect for human rights.Strengthening the CPR system means treating foreign citizens as numbers, as goods crammed into degraded places and totally unsuitable for a dignified life.Various associations, including ASGI, they report for years the absence of protection for detained migrants, the massive administration of psychotropic drugs and the inhumane treatments carried out by the police forces who guard the centres, which over the years have become real prisons.

The Repatriation Permanence Centers like black holes swallow up the lives of foreign citizens

And the fact that the Government has distanced itself from any policy to protect the rights of migrants is also demonstrated by the implementing provision of the Cutro decree, a new discrimination on an economic basis that adds to that already suffered by migrants in their country of origin.The new measure provides that migrants coming from a safe country must pay a sum of 4,938 euros, via an individual bank guarantee, to avoid waiting in detention for their asylum application to be examined, which will be examined in "28 days". .The detention facilities will not necessarily be CPRs, but nothing has been specified on this point, and with the hotspots already overcrowded, it is reasonable to believe that these migrants will also be transferred to Repatriation Centres.The executive's direction essentially provided for detention also for asylum seekers.

Already at a first reading of the standard, it is easy to identify a practical issue:Which migrant arrives in Italy with a valid document for a bank guarantee?The opposition immediately expressed strong doubts and criticized this provision, which operates as a legislative presumption:if a migrant comes from a safe country, such as Niger or Tunisia, he will most likely not have political asylum and must be expelled and repatriated as quickly as possible.This automatism is contrary to international law, but even before that, to European rules and constitutional principles:it is economic blackmail to be able to exercise a fundamental right.

The Meloni Government's forecast, although lacking technical and implementation details, causes inequalities at multiple levels:it is reasonable to believe, in fact, that very few migrants are able to arrive in Italy with almost 5 thousand Euros, due to their starting socio-economic conditions.Furthermore, women with children or very young migrants are much less likely to have a similar amount.What the executive has defined as a "financial guarantee" is actually a multiplier of inequalities, capable of causing discrimination even in the country of origin.

Last but not least, there is the factor of extraterritoriality.In fact, only by obtaining asylum (or at least the provision of suspension of the denial from the Territorial Commission) is one "admitted to the national territory".Which suggests that borders are extra-state places, where, in fact, there is no jurisdiction and consequently no protection for the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights, already put to the test for migrant people.Similar measures voluntarily create a legislative and jurisdictional vacuum and expose migrants to discretionary and potentially harmful acts, as well as depriving them of freedom of movement and the right to request international protection with the necessary protections. According to ASGI, the externalization of borders, the key places of migratory routes, is precisely the set of political and economic measures aimed at "making their entry or their request for social and legal protection legally and substantially inadmissible".

The disposal of migrants' "practices" at the borders

As already seen with the Caivano decree, and before that the Cutro decree, the Government responded to the arrivals on the coasts of Lampedusa with severe decrees and regulations, under the illusion that higher penalties result in greater legality.A another point of Palazzo Chigi, in fact, it was announced - it is not yet known in what times and ways - the preparation of detention areas on the coasts, especially in Calabria and Sicily, to dispose of the migrant files "within a week" of the arrival in Italy.The process will include a very rapid examination which will lead either to the granting of refugee status or to repatriation to the country of origin, always with the same problems with the countries of origin.Even the hypothesis that residence permits for international protection are issued does not seem consistent with the fact that many migrants arrive, as is normal, without documents and within "a week" of arriving in Italy it would be difficult to believe that they are able to obtain suitable legal assistance, psychological support or an interpreter to apply for refugee status.

As with the CPR, the Government is not sufficiently clear and implements security strategies by entrusting the entire management of migratory flows on the coasts to the police alone and removing the professional figures necessary for a reception that respects constitutional and fundamental rights .The objective of these hotspots is clearly to identify and automatically expel "economic migrants" - the majority - who do not fall within the definition of refugees.A distinction that totally ignores the multifactorial nature underlying migration and violates one of the key principles of humanitarian law, namely the necessary and careful evaluation of the reception request of each individual foreign citizen.

The "false minors" who scare the Government 

A final point on which the executive is working is to facilitate the expulsion of foreign minors, who in Italy are more than 20 thousand and continually growing.The situation of unaccompanied foreign minors (MSNA) arriving in our country is one of enormous vulnerability, since the absence of a reference parental figure is added to the difficulties encountered by all individuals with a migratory background.The reception system for minors in Italy, which should provide greater protection for these migrants based on the best interests of the minor, is collapsing:the places available in the SAI (Reception and Integration System) are insufficient and the authorities have decided to deviate from the legal limits, allowing up to 25% more minors to be hosted in each facility.The situation is also aggravated by an uneven distribution of minors in the territory, whereby 21% of them remain in Sicily, and by the so-called "missing minors", who escape from overcrowded centers and who no one takes care of.

The Government, however, has focused attention on "fake" minors:since it often happens that migrants do not have verifiable dates of birth in their identity documents, the Government intends to oppose the entry of those who, in order to "take advantage of the advantages granted to minors who enter the country" declare an age lower than that “obvious”.Also in this case, investigations and checks will be envisaged "when the difference between declared age and physical appearance is clearly conflicting".

The executive's objective is in clear contrast with the ban on refoulement that should always be reserved for unaccompanied minors and vulnerable subjects, as well as the fact that a rule should be sufficiently clear and non-generic to be understood and applied.Furthermore, in legal language, the use of terms such as "clearly conflicting" is not acceptable, because the legislator cannot leave a margin of subjective discretion to the border authorities:How do you distinguish the age of majority?Based on what characteristics?

The Government's measure appears even more discriminatory in light of the ECHR condemnation against Italy in 2022, for denying the request for international protection to a 17-year-old Gambian citizen, mistakenly considered an adult by the authorities.In the indifference that characterizes the protection of minor migrants, border police forces are left to decide whether minors should be welcomed, as required by international law that Italy has signed up to, or should be repatriated to governments dictatorships or countries destroyed by climate change and internal conflicts.It could have been a good opportunity to finally take care of the hundreds of unaccompanied foreign minors, instead it became an opportunity to expel the "false minors".