L'eco del silenzio

 In 2009, Human Rights Watch researchers documented how stringent entry and return policies in several countries led to brutal treatment, detention, and even death of migrants. For example, Italy returned African migrants traveling by boat to Libya where they are often subjected to physical abuse and detention in unsanitary conditions. Countries such as Malaysia and Greece often failed to screen migrants adequately for asylum-seekers. Unaccompanied children in France were treated more like criminals than children and detained or returned to unsafe conditions.

 In general, the fear and xenophobia that a country's government and population harbor against migrants can lead them to implement harsh laws, policies, and practices that violate migrants' rights. Italy and Malaysia have allowed vigilante-style monitoring of undocumented migrants by specially formed civilian groups.

 Discriminatory Treatment of Migrants

  Italy
Government policies and legislation have exacerbated a general climate of racism and xenophobia. Law 94 of July 2009 made undocumented entry and stay in Italy a criminal offense punishable by a fine of up to 10,000 euros. All public officials are required to report criminal conduct, leading to concerns officials may report undocumented migrants who seek medical attention or other services they are entitled to receive under Italian law irrespective of their status. Legislation adopted in 2008 had already made undocumented migrants liable to up to one-third longer prison sentences if convicted of a crime.

Hostility against migrants, in particular Romanians, and Roma has been sparked in part by several high profile crimes allegedly attributed to foreigners or Roma. The response has been a wave of attacks targeting those communities. Recent incidents have included the beating and lighting on fire of an Indian immigrant (February 2009), and an attack by a large group of club-wielding men on four Romanians, two of whom required hospitalization (February 2009). Rather than discourage vigilante action, the Government of Prime Minister Berlusconi has officially sanctioned vigilante groups, first through an emergency decree, and then through Law 94 of July 2009 (the so-called "Security Package.") The law created a national framework for "citizen's groups," and regulations adopted in August 2009 provide general guidelines with respect to membership. Although requests for authorization to create such groups have been few so far, the government's move, given the climate of hostility, creates a real of risk of what would be state-sanctioned violence against migrants and Roma.

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Italian government:

• Repeal the provision in Law 94 of 2009 criminalizing irregular entry and stay in Italy and the provision authorizing citizens' groups.
  
• Ensure that attacks by on migrants, Roma and other ethnic minorities are promptly investigated by the police and those responsible are brought to justice.
• Condemn forcefully and consistently all racist and xenophobic statements, especially by public and elected officials, and make clear that racist discourse has no place in Italian society. 

 Treatment of Migrants Crossing Borders

  Italy and Libya

On May 6, 2009, Italy began unilaterally interdicting boat migrants on the high seas and returning them summarily to Libya. No screening was conducted to identify refugees, the sick or injured, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, victims of trafficking, or victims of violence against women. In one of the subsequent boat interdictions, on July 1, 2009, Human Rights Watch received credible reports that Italian officials used undue force, as well as confiscating, and not returning, the personal property of migrants, including money, mobile phones, passports, and refugee certificates. Human Rights Watch learned from another source that Italian personnel used electric-shock batons and clubs that day to force migrants off the boat, and that some of the passengers had to have lacerations on their heads stitched even before leaving the Italian vessel.

All interdicted boat migrants are detained upon arrival in Libya. Human Rights Watch research documented how migrants detained in Libya reported overcrowded and unsanitary conditions and brutal treatment.[16] They said that they lived in fear of being robbed, beaten, and extorted not only by common criminals, but also by the police in Libya, and fear of being returned to their home countries or dumped in the desert.

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Libyan government:

• Improve the deplorable conditions of detention in Libya, establish asylum procedures in conformity with international refugee standards, and prosecute officials responsible for abusing migrants in and out of detention.

Human Rights Watch recommends that EU institutions and member states:

• Stop Italy from forcibly returning migrants to Libya where they are routinely subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment and where potential refugees are not effectively and ensure that the EU external border control agency, Frontex, is not involved in activities that result in refoulement.

Un immigrato, in un centro di accoglienza in Italia
REUTERS | 07/01/2010
Un immigrato paperless in un centro di accoglienza di Lampedusa, 2003.