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Rights Group Documents Abuse of Migrants by Italian Authorities

by VOA News

   Italian forces have committed multiple human rights abuses, including
   physical beatings and unlawful expulsions, against refugees and
   migrants who arrive on their soil, according to an Amnesty
   International report.

   "EU leaders have driven the Italian authorities to the limits, and
   beyond what is legal," said Matteo de Bellis, Amnesty International's
   Researcher on Italy.

   Italy is under increasing pressure from the European Union to
   effectively and quickly register migrants in Italy, and to return a
   certain number to their countries of origin.

   One of the consequences of this documented by the international rights
   group is "forced fingerprinting".

   According an EU law called the Dublin Regulation, migrants and refugees
   can only apply for asylum in the European country where the first
   arrive. This has resulted in an oversaturation of migrants and refugees
   in countries such as Italy, Greece, and Malta, which have limited
   resources to cope with the vast number of migrants reaching their
   shores. Many migrants and refugees wish to apply for asylum in other
   countries in Europe, and thus seek to avoid being fingerprinted in
   their country of arrival.

   Italy Migrants Abuse: FILE - This Sept. 30, 2015 photo shows a migrant
   facing Italian police officers in riot gear after the evacuation of a
   tent camp at the Franco-Italian border in Ventimiglia, Italy. In a
   report by human rights watchdog Amnesty International published
   Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, the organization alleges that Italian police
   have beaten and abused migrants and unlawfully expelled some, under
   pressure to implement new European Union rules to process arrivals.

   Amnesty International documented 16 cases of beatings, and nine more of
   electric shock, sexual humiliation, and other abuses used to force
   fingerprinting. A 25-year-old Eritrean women recounted being slapped
   repeatedly in the face by a police officer until she agreed to be
   fingerprinted. Amnesty does note, however, that most cases of
   fingerprinting occur without incident.

   The report also documents unjust expulsions, including 40 people
   identified as Sudanese who were flown from Italy to Khartoum, where
   many of them were beaten and all were interrogated upon arrival in the
   airport.

   More than 150,000 people have reached Italy by sea this year, and of
   them just 1,200 have been relocated, out of the 40,000 that were
   promised, according to Amnesty International.