Written declaration No. 668 | Doc. 14817 | 24 April 2019

The Council of Europe must act against the expulsions of refugees from the reception centres for asylum seekers in Italy

Signatories: Mr Roberto RAMPI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Luise AMTSBERG, Germany, SOC ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Ms Maria Elena BOSCHI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Rósa Björk BRYNJÓLFSDÓTTIR, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Ahmet Ünal ÇEVİKÖZ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Vernon COAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Adnan DIBRANI, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Espen Barth EIDE, Norway, SOC ; Mr Yunus EMRE, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Edite ESTRELA, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Piero FASSINO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Zita GURMAI, Hungary, SOC ; Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Hamid HAMID, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Thomas HAMMARBERG, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Mr Dzheyhan IBRYAMOV, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr Momodou Malcolm JALLOW, Sweden, UEL ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Baroness Doreen MASSEY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Ian MURRAY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Andrea ORLANDO, Italy, SOC ; Mr Paulo PISCO, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Ulla SANDBÆK, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Axel SCHÄFER, Germany, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Ms Angela SMITH, United Kingdom, SOC ; Lord Don TOUHIG, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Dimitri TSKITISHVILI, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Ute VOGT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Martin WHITFIELD, United Kingdom, SOC

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Under the new law advocated by Interior Minister Salvini, the expulsion of asylum seekers from the reception centres has started in Italy. The first centre concerned, in Castelnuovo di Porto (Rome), has been open for more than 10 years, and has hosted up to a thousand migrants, serving as a model because of its integration projects.

Its occupants were expelled without any formal respect, in violation of the principles of human rights. Many people are now homeless in the streets of Rome. Children were removed from the schools where they had integrated. The operation caused anger and disbelief in many parts of Italy.

While it is legitimate for a new government to change immigration management policies, it must do so ensuring respect for human rights. In this connection, some cases of refugees enjoying humanitarian protection were highlighted, as this law deprived them of the right to reception. Some applications concerning them were already referred to the European Court of Human Rights.

We believe that the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe must be informed of this situation and that they must take steps to ensure genuine respect for human rights in these circumstances.