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Finally, Good News for Asylum Seekers in Italy

New Decree Rolls Back Some of the Worst Aspects of Immigration Policy

It pledged last year to do so, and now the Italian government has restored some humanity to its immigration and asylum system. This week, the council of ministers adopted a decree that reverses many of the worst policies imposed by the previous…
Italians and asylum seekers from the local specialized reception center work together to clear debris after floods in Belluno, Italy, November 2018.
News

EU Turns Its Back on Migrants in Distress

New Naval Mission Designed to Avoid Sea Rescues

It is a craven, indefensible choice. Yesterday, European Union foreign ministers agreed to launch a mission in the Mediterranean Sea to enforce the United Nations-mandated Libyan arms embargo on the condition that it not focus on saving…
Migrants are transfered by Italian sailors from the German combat supply ship 'Frankfurt am Main' to the their ship 'Grecale' after being rescued during EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, March 29, 2016.
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Italy’s New Government Should Undo Its Worst Migration Policies

Chance to Implement Humane Approach

Italy’s new coalition government, fragile as it may be, presents a chance for the country to move away from migration policies that put lives at risk and back to those grounded in respect for human rights, including the right to life.…
Migrants are crowded together on deck of the rescue ship "Eleonore" as it seaches for a safe port in the Mediterranean.
News

New Low for Italian Migration Policies

Preventing Rescue at Sea, Punishing Survivors on Land

The current Italian government’s inhumane approach to refugees and migrants has reached a new low. On September 23, news emerged that Italy had pressured Panama to revoke the use of its flag on the Aquarius, the only…
A wooden boat carrying 29 people, mainly Syrians, just before their rescue and transfer to the Aquarius. October 10, 2017
News

Rescued Migrants Held Hostage to Politics

Italy Should Immediately Allow Disembarkation

Update: Interior Minister Matteo Salvini authorized the disembarkation of 27 unaccompanied children on the night of August 22. All others remain on board. Engineered hysteria over boat migration across the Mediterranean – at…
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News

Europe is Losing its Moral Compass in the Mediterranean

EU Should Support, Not Obstruct, Rescue at Sea

As an American living in Italy, I feel almost choked by despair. The country of my parents ripped young children from their parents and put them in cages. The country of my children is condemning people to drown in the Mediterranean.…
Migrants are seen onboard the charity ship Lifeline at Boiler Wharf in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, Malta June 27, 2018.
News

In a Man’s Death, a Glimpse of Libya’s Horrors

Europe Should Help End Cycle of Detention, Violence in Libya

A young Eritrean man died on Tuesday in Sicily of tuberculosis compounded by severe malnutrition. His name was Segen.* He was 22. There is so much about Segen we may never know. Did he prefer to read books or play football?…
Segen, a 22-year-old Eritrean, stares into the camera before disembarking in Pozzallo, Sicily, from the Pro Activa Open Arms rescue ship on March 13, 2018. He died several hours later.
News

Italy Shuts Down ‘Worrying’ Migrant Hotspot

Temporary Closure Follows Protests About Degrading Conditions

Good news! The Italian Interior Ministry announced yesterday the temporary closure of an abusive migrant processing center on Lampedusa, Italy’s tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea. The government decision came after damning…
Migrants disembark from the SOS Mediterranee ship Aquarius at the Italian island of Lampedusa, April 18, 2016.
News

European Union Court Endorses Collective Action to Help Refugees

Court ruling should encourage EU countries to relocate more asylum seekers

Hold the champagne. It’s more of a sparkling water moment. On September 6, the European Union's Court of Justice upheld the EU’s 2015 emergency plan requiring all member countries to relocate asylum seekers out of Italy and…
The entrance of the European Court of Justice is pictured in Luxembourg, January 26, 2017. Picture taken January 26, 2017.
News

Playing Politics with People’s Lives

Attacks in Italy on Efforts to Save Migrants’ Lives in the Mediterranean

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) searching for and rescuing migrants from rickety or even sinking boats in the Mediterranean are saving lives. Thousands of lives. Enough said? Apparently not. In Italy, NGOs have…
Migrants aboard a boat following their rescue from their drifting dinghies in the Mediterranean Seas by Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms
News

Q & A: Safe Zones and the Armed Conflict in Syria

Recent statements by leaders and governments in the United States, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan indicate an interest in creating so-called safe zones in Syria. While no detailed plans for creating and managing such…
An internally displaced Syrian woman walks in the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp, near the Syrian-Turkish border, northern Aleppo province, Syria, December 26, 2016.
News

Dispatches: Italy Illegally Returning Migrant Children to Greece

Children Held Arbitrarily in Degrading Conditions

“Akram,” a 17-year-old Kurdish boy from Iraq, hid under a truck on the ferry from Greece to Italy for 18 hours without food or water. When he arrived in Italy, the police locked him in a small room on the ferry and sent him right back to Greece. …
Trucks of the sort unaccompanied migrant children stow away on hoping to reach Italy, ready to be loaded onto ships at the Patras port. Children stow away between the axles, inside fuel tanks, or inside refrigerated containers.
News

Dispatches: ISIS Knocks on the Door of Turkey’s “Safe Zone”

Things are bad when Syrian government barrel bombs rain down on your home and force you to flee to a displaced persons camp. Things are really bad when ISIS comes to your camp and orders you to leave. But when Turkish border troops – working with the…
Ikdah camp in Syria near Turkish border
News

Dispatches: Moving Ball Down the Field for Human Rights?

Over the last year, reporting about FIFA, football’s scandal-plagued governing body, has focused on arrests, corruption, and worker rights abuses in the upcoming World Cup host countries, Russia and Qatar. So today’s news that…
News

Dispatches: What Cameron should do about the refugee crisis

David Cameron’s government has shown a shameful lack of leadership and compassion in the face of Europe’s refugee crisis. Until now, it’s not paid much of a political price for doing so. But the heart-wrenching image of Aylan Kurdi, washed up on a Turkish…
A Syrian family sit on the dock side after being escorted into the harbor by the Greek Coastguard who found them drifting offshore on June 4, 2015 in Kos, Greece.
News

Dispatches: Why I Shared a Horrific Photo of a Drowned Syrian Child

I thought long and hard before I retweeted the photo of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi. It shows the lifeless toddler, lying face down on a popular Turkish beach, one of eleven Syrians who have almost certainly died as they tried to reach safety in Europe by…
A man carries the body of a dead Syrian boy who died at sea.
News

Dispatches: Europe’s Refugee Crisis – Has UK Forgotten the Past?

Isaac Levine arrived in the UK from Lithuania as a 17-year-old in 1894. Manfred Gorlin left his home in Nazi-controlled Danzig (now in Poland) and arrived in 1939. As the grandchildren of Jews who found refuge from persecution in the UK, we watch the…
migrants uk

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