1. Italy, court rules calling asylum seekers “illegal” is discriminatory
Calling an asylum seeker “illegal” is not only “gravely offensive and humiliating”, it does not only have “the effect of violating the dignity of foreign nationals”, but it also “fosters an atmosphere of intimidation and hostility towards them”. Thanks to an initiative by ASGI and Naga, the Court of Milan reached a historic decision against posters distributed by the Northern League in the spring of 2016.
Read Ducchio Facchini’s article in Altreconomia.
2. Italy: it’s time to say yes to ius soli
The law on birthright citizenship, which could affect over one million people, has been frozen in the Italian Senate for 450 days, and is still waiting to be discussed. Meanwhile, hundreds have taken to the streets for a “citizenship carnival”, calling for the swift passing of a bill that is long overdue.
Read Rita Rapisardi’s article for L’Espresso.
3. Germany: daily attacks on migrants
Germany has been not only a place of solidarity, but also of intolerance. Last year, there were hundreds of episodes of hatred, discrimination and violence against migrants and refugees – nearly ten every day, according to a report by the Ministry of the interior. Read the article on the BBC website.
4. UK, is there really no harm in deporting gay Afghans?
According to the British government, it is perfectly OK to send gay asylum seekers back to their native Afghanistan, where homosexuality is a crime. And those about to be deported are simply told to “pretend to be straight”. Read the article in the Guardian.
5. Europe: the child refugee crisis
Hundreds of thousands of minors are crossing entire continents alone in a desperate bid for a better life – at an age when the more fortunate kids need supervision to do their homework. And Europe is slamming its doors in their faces.
Read Lauren Collins’s report for the New Yorker.
6. The EU cannot claim moral superiority on migrants and refugees
The European Union has condemned Trump, but migrant and refugee policies on either side of the Atlantic are starting to look a lot alike. Read Judith Vonberg’s in-depth analysis for CNN on how some European countries are taking an increasingly hard stance against those who try to reach the continent.
7. Europe urged to review Libya decisions in open letter from NGOs
In an open letter to the heads of state and government of the member states of the European Union, over 400 European and African NGOs have voiced their grave concerns about the steps taken by the EU in the management of migratory movements along the route to Libya. The new European strategy “will neither reduce human rights abuses, nor end smuggling”. Read the article in Vita.
8. Europe: Europol boasts of success despite record more refugees dying than ever before
A new report by EU-wide security agency Europol claims success against human trafficking, but in the Mediterranean more people are dying than ever before, and the absence of legal routes to Europe means more and more migrants fall in the hands of unscrupulous smugglers. Read Lizzie Dearden’s article in the Independent.
9. Libya, the migrants’ cage
Reporter Francesca Mannocchi accessed one of the thirty centres set up in Libya to detain illegal migrants. Nightmarish metal sheet cages where thousands of people survive while being treated like animals. Read the tough report in L’Espresso.
10. Libya, a hell we can no longer ignore
The bloody business of human lives is thriving in Libya. A human tragedy that Europe is largely responsible for, and that the world seems intent on ignoring. Some light was shed on what’s happening in the African country by Ross Kemp’s article in the Guardian (as well as his documentary for Sky).
Translation by Francesco Graziosi.
Header photo: UN Photo/OCHA/David Ohana (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
