Tag: Italy ⁄ Open Migration

Migrants’ detention will not stop with the pandemic

May 27, 2020 - Giacomo Zandonini

Detention of irregular migrants is still the main instrument used to track down and repatriate unwelcome people, even when - like during a pandemic - this is not allowed. Giacomo Zandonini tells us how the Coronavirus emergency in Europe is leaving migrants’ detention unchanged.

Migrants in Libya, trapped between war and Covid-19

May 5, 2020 - Nancy Porsia

Since the beginning of April, thousands of men, women and children trapped in Libya have been put at sea heading towards Europe. Estimations say that around 800 migrants left the Libyan shores in the second week of April alone. While the government in Tripoli sent thirty doctors to Italy to contribute to the fight against Covid-19, Italy and Malta declared their ports “unsafe” due to the health emergency, closing their borders to migrants on the Central Mediterranean route. Meanwhile, official detention centres refuse migrants, while dungeons run by militias have their doors wide open. Reporter Nancy Porsia describes what it means to be trapped in a country at war during a pandemic.

Doomsayers of the 21st Century

April 22, 2020 - Romina Vinci

Preaching about social distancing is no easy task when you live in a small and cramped space. Expecting the correct behaviours to be followed under poor hygiene conditions can be quite challenging. The foreigners who try and convey this concept to their families back in their home countries know this pretty well. Romina Vinci gives us a glimpse of a class of adults in Lombardy, Italy, in the middle of the Coronavirus emergency.

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.