I recently returned from Rome and Lampedusa, where I assessed the crackdown on asylum seekers, migrants and Search and Rescue (SAR) NGOs by Meloni's new legislation. The situation I encountered was extremely grim.🧵

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On the Italian mainland, the new rules subject almost all asylum seekers to a border procedure in detention without proper safeguards and legal aid. Meloni's new law also restricts granting a humanitarian protection status, leaving many vulnerable people in legal limbo. 2/

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It strips denied asylum applicants of the right to leave the country voluntarily and reintroduces mass reception facilities. Moreover, the new rules severely hamper NGOs in saving lives and criminalise them for rescuing people, as well as migrants, if they drive the boat. 3/

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The already harsh reality at sea is worsening. 500 migrants drowned in April in the Mediterranean Sea, and many others are being sent back to Libyan or Tunisian waters. The Italian coast guard explained that they are doing their utmost to rescue people in distress at sea. 4/

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Yet, due to the limited Italian rescue zone, migrants still face huge risks by the failure of the Maltese authorities to rescue people in distress at sea. NGOs are trying to fill these gaps but are constantly obstructed by Italy's and Malta's maritime coordination. 5/

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Outside the EU SAR zones, migrants are handed over to the Tunisian and Libyan coastguards, who bring them back to places they tried to escape. Italy and Malta support this coastguard, known as traffickers, to send people back to torture and exploitation in detention centres. 6/

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With its large-scale funding, the EU contributes to the crimes against humanity (documented by the UN) conducted by the Libyan Coast Guard. 7/

news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1

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During my visit to the Lampedusa hotspot, I was shocked by the substandard and filthy conditions. I spoke with minors who were detained for ten days, unable to call their parents to inform them they had survived the journey. 8/

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I urge the authorities to substantially improve the facilities to protect human dignity and public health, ensure a swift transfer to the mainland and lift the detention regime of the hotspot. 9/

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This working visit gave me a frightening preview of what to expect once the EU's Asylum and Migration Pact is adopted: more difficulties in arriving at European territory, followed by closed and deficient border procedures for most asylum seekers. 10/

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Member States shift the responsibility to border countries, which in turn outsource it to their non-EU neighbouring countries. And all at the cost of the right to protection and dignity. 11/

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Join our action and urge the European Union to stop human rights violations at our borders. 12/12

Sign the petition ⤵️
act.greens-efa.eu/nl/pushbacks

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Join our action and urge the European Union to stop human rights violations at our borders. 12/12

Sign the petition ⤵️

act.greens-efa.eu/pushbacks?so

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