Tag: Italy ⁄ Open Migration

Migration, asylum and border management: the new role of Frontex in the aftermath of the “refugee crisis”

April 3, 2019 - David Fernández Rojo

The so-called “refugee crisis” prompted the urge to ensure the functioning of the Schengen area and the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), the need to operationally assist those Member States most affected by the sudden and extraordinary arrival of mixed migratory flows, and the convenience to effectively and uniformly implement the European Union (EU) measures adopted in regards to migration, asylum and border management matters. David Fernández Rojo - researcher at the University of Deusto - analyses in this article the significant reinforcements of the operational tasks entrusted to the EU decentralised agencies FRONTEX, EASO and EUROPOL in the aftermath of the "refugee crisis".

The 10 best articles on refugees and migration 43/2018

November 13, 2018 - Open Migration

In the same week when the Italian Senate approved an even tougher version of the Salvini bill on security and immigration, more than 40,000 people marched in Rome to protest racism and the government’s asylum policies. As Palermo hosted a conference on Libya, news from the migrant detention camps in the country are still extremely troubling.

In the hands of the Libyan Coast Guard: pushbacks by proxy

June 28, 2018 - Laura Clarke

In the first five months of the year, over 42 per cent of migrants who departed from Libya for Italy and survived the journey were returned to Libyan shores. This compares to approximately 11 per cent in the same period in 2017. The increase is to be seen in the context of the "pushback by proxy" strategy adopted by Italy through the activities of the Libyan coast guard.

The 10 Best Articles on Refugees and Migration 22/2018

June 12, 2018 - Open Migration

The ship Aquarius - full of migrants rescued by the Italian Navy and Coast Guard, among others - will not be allowed to dock in any Italian port and it should go to Malta instead: the decision was made by Italy’s Interior Minister Salvini and Transport Minister Toninelli (who is technically in charge of ports). The SOS Méditerranéee ship, also operated by Doctors Without Borders, is awaiting for new instructions off the coast of Sicily, amid concerns over the conditions of the 629 men, women and children on board.

Understanding the “conflicted middle” in Italy

April 13, 2018 - Antonella Napolitano

What we saw in the lead-up to Italy’s election was a polarised debate, with statistics and a flurry of accusations, acts of solidarity criminalised, and complex phenomena oversimplified. This research, supported by The Social Change Initiative in partnership with More in Common, surveyed political debate, public opinion, and reactions from civil society in five countries: Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece. The research was carried out in Italy by IPSOS, and presented it at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia.

The prosecutor’s case against the rescue ship Open Arms

March 29, 2018 - Marina Petrillo, Lorenzo Bagnoli and Claudia Torrisi

The rescue ship Open Arms has been seized after failing to turn over 218 migrants rescued at sea to the Libyan Coast Guard. The ship’s captain, the mission leader, and the director of the Spanish NGO have been accused of criminal conspiracy and aiding illegal immigration by the same prosecutor who had accused NGOs before the seizure of the Iuventa. We are at a critical point in the tug of war between the Italian Ministry of the Interior and those NGOs rescuing migrants out at sea. Here is what the document says, what the prosecution says, and what the NGO says.

The 10 Best Articles on Refugees and Migration 3/2018

January 23, 2018 - Open Migration

Issues of migration and asylum are at the centre of the political debate in Italy as well as Germany. Meanwhile, the Italian Parliament has approved a new military mission in Niger: nothing new under the Sahelian sun, all part of the wider European strategy of border externalisation. Also: whatever happened to Generation Identity’s anti-immigrant ship; how migrants are still dying in Calais or are left to wander on the streets of Paris; what we can learn from the occupation of the City Plaza Hotel in Athens; Trump’s first year on immigration policy; the returns of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar, and a new algorithm that could help in the resettlement of refugees.