1 year, 8 months ago

Aid groups seek an EU commission review of migration law in Italy as it impounds rescue ships

ROME — A coalition of humanitarian groups formally asked the European Commission to review Italy’s legislation governing migration on Thursday, following the Italian government’s latest detention of a ship used to rescue migrants at sea. Emergency, Doctors Without Borders, SOS Humanity and ASGI, a legal association that studies migration, filed the request alleging that the Italian legislation raises questions about its compatibility with European Union norms and international law. The aid groups filing a complaint with Brussels cited other Italian norms requiring rescue ships to go to port after a single rescue, rather than remain at sea conducting other rescues. Meloni’s government, which accuses humanitarian groups of essentially running a taxi service for migrants, has also assigned ports of disembarkation far up on the Italian coast.

Rescue Italy Italian Ship Groups Humanitarian Groups rescue seek legislation ships italy ship italian migrants migration sos norms review humanitarian law eu european impounds groups

History of this topic

3 weeks, 4 days ago

Italy’s top court orders government to compensate migrants who were stranded at sea for days

Associated Press

ROME — Italy’s highest appeals court has ordered the government to compensate a group of migrants who were stranded at sea for days on a coast guard vessel in 2018 due to then-Interior minister Matteo Salvini ’s tough anti-migration policies. Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday criticized the court decision as “questionable” and “frustrating.” The Cassation court ruling, which overturns a …

2 months ago

Italian court refers asylum seekers’ case to ECJ in challenge to Meloni’s migrant deal with Albania

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An Italian appeals court on …

2 months ago

Italy denies asylum for 43 migrants relocated to Albania, and observers say they were denied lawyers

Associated Press

MILAN — Italian authorities on Thursday rejected the asylum requests of 43 asylum-seekers transferred to Albania in a speedy procedure that a non-governmental delegation observing the process said illegally deprived them of legal assistance. “The commission is clearly operating in line with the expressed desire of the government to refuse the asylum requests, in violation of international, European and constitutional …

2 months ago

Italian navy ship drops off 49 migrants in Albania despite previous court rejections

The Independent

2 months ago

Italy resumes migrant transfers to Albania detention centres with 49 on navy vessel

Firstpost

Italy’s navy transported 49 migrants rescued in international waters to detention facilities in Albania on Sunday, resuming a plan to curb sea arrivals mired in legal controversy. The Italian navy vessel Cassiopea has taken 49 migrants onboard during Mediterranean patrols and is transferring them to processing centers in Albania, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday. This is the third attempt …

3 months, 1 week ago

Italy vows to push ahead with dormant migrant vetting centers in Albania

Associated Press

MILAN — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government vowed on Monday to open controversial migrant processing centers in Albania that have remained dormant after Italian courts refused to validate the transfer of the first two groups of migrants. The statement cited a court ruling last week by Italy’s highest court that said Italian judges could not substitute for government policy on …

3 months, 1 week ago

Italy’s Salvini faces verdict for blocking migrants at sea. Case weighs limits of stemming migration

Associated Press

MILAN — Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, has sounded defiant ahead of Friday’s court verdict in Sicily for blocking some 100 migrants at sea on a humanitarian rescue boat in 2019 when he was interior minister. Salvini, who leads the Euroskeptic, anti-migrant League, told a rally last week that “defending the borders, the dignity, the laws, the honor of a …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Italy’s Meloni and Hungary’s Orbán pledge deeper cooperation on migration and Ukraine

Associated Press

ROME — Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni met her Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán on Wednesday in Rome, where the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, their support for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and their commitment to the eastern country’s reconstruction. The two far-right leaders also discussed the Middle East conflict, support for a peaceful resolution in …

3 months, 3 weeks ago

Italy's Meloni and Hungary's Orbán pledge deeper cooperation on migration and Ukraine

The Independent

4 months, 1 week ago

Italy moves to replace courts that ruled against its migrant detentions

Hindustan Times

By Angelo Amante Italy moves to replace courts that ruled against its migrant detentions ROME, - Italy's right-wing coalition has passed rules to change the courts responsible for validating the detention of migrants, in what the opposition said was a vendetta against judges who recently blocked a plan to send asylum seekers to Albania. The move comes against a backdrop …

4 months, 2 weeks ago

Aid groups say Italy-Albania migration deal violates medical ethics

Associated Press

ROME — More than a dozen humanitarian organizations that provide health care to migrants criticized Italy’s migration deal with Albania on Friday as violating the code of medical ethics, and urged health workers not to cooperate with it. “The Italy-Albania Protocol violates the code of medical ethics and human rights and puts the physical and psychological health of migrants at …

4 months, 2 weeks ago

Is Italy's plan to outsource migrant crisis to Albania falling through?

Firstpost

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s plan to process asylum seekers in Albania has faced a setback as a Rome court has declined to detained transferred migrants, leading to their return to Italy and raising legal questions about the safety of their home countries Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, Friday, Nov. 8, …

4 months, 2 weeks ago

Italy’s plan to screen migrants in Albania hits another snag with 2nd group returning to Italy

Associated Press

MILAN — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s program to screen asylum seekers outside of European Union borders in Albania hit another snag when a court in Rome refused to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants transferred to the Balkan nation last week. It is a repeat of what happened with the first 12 migrants in the program, who …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

Italian judges again block detention of migrants in Albania

Hindustan Times

ROME -A Rome court on Monday asked EU judges to weigh in on the detention of sea migrants in Albania, again frustrating the Italian right-wing government's efforts to pursue its flagship plan to crackdown on irregular arrivals. Italian judges again block detention of migrants in Albania Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has built migrant camps in Albania to deter Mediterranean crossings, …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

Italy’s plan to screen migrants in Albania hits another snag

LA Times

Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin in northwestern Albania on Friday. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s program to screen asylum seekers outside of European Union borders in Albania hit another snag on Monday when a court in Rome refused to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants transferred to the Balkan nation …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

Italian ship takes migrants to Albania in 2nd test of deal to process claims outside the EU

Associated Press

MILAN — An Italian naval ship carrying migrants was en route Wednesday to Albania to have asylum applications processed under a five-year deal to handle asylum claims outside the European Union’s borders that has already hit a legal roadblock. The Italian daily La Repubblica reported that out of 1,200 migrant arrivals on Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa over the last …

5 months, 1 week ago

Why Italy is squarely at the heart of an immigration debate roiling Europe

NPR

Why Italy is squarely at the heart of an immigration debate roiling Europe Italy's right wing government insists it will continue to process migrant arrivals from North Africa in detention centers in neighboring Albania — despite a court decision that sent individuals back. A MARTÍNEZ, HOST: Italy's right-wing government has passed a new law so it can proceed with plans …

5 months, 1 week ago

Italy Set to Adopt Decree to Override Court Objections on Albanian Migrant Camps

Hindustan Times

Italy is set to adopt a decree to overturn court objections on its plan to set up migrant detention camps in Albania. The plan was initially undermined by a Rome court ruling that deemed the first batch of migrants brought to Albania as unsafe due to their countries of origin. The Italian government plans to upgrade the legal status of …

5 months, 1 week ago

First migrants sent to Albania for processing are returned to Italy

The Independent

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ …

5 months, 2 weeks ago

A court in Italy rejects the outsourced detention of the first migrants sent to Albania

The Independent

5 months, 2 weeks ago

First Italian ship with 16 intercepted migrants docks at Albanian port to process asylum request

The Independent

7 months, 2 weeks ago

UNHCR to monitor implementation of Italy-Albania accord to ensure migrants’ asylum rights respected

Associated Press

ROME — The U.N. refugee agency, which has expressed serious concerns about Italy’s deal to process some migrants’ asylum requests at holding centers in Albania, has agreed to monitor the first three months of the agreement. But the agency said in a statement on Wednesday that it had agreed to monitor its execution to help “safeguard the rights and dignity …

8 months ago

Italy confirms construction delays in Albania will push back opening of migrant processing centers

Associated Press

ROME — Italian officials confirmed that Italy’s controversial new migrant processing centers in Albania, o riginally scheduled to open Thursday, won’t be operational for several more weeks because of construction delays. An Italian interior ministry spokesman confirmed that Mantovano’s assessment of a weekslong delay, first made on the sidelines of a July 24 conference, remained accurate Thursday when the centers …

9 months, 2 weeks ago

Italian Coast Guard searches missing migrants after shipwreck: 12 rescued, 1 dead

The Independent

10 months, 3 weeks ago

Italy bars NGO migrant rescue flights from Sicilian airport, says they interfere with coast guard

Associated Press

ROME — Italy’s aviation authority has barred humanitarian migrant rescue groups from using a Sicilian airport to launch search and rescue flights over the Mediterranean, in the government’s latest move to regulate their activities. An ordinance from ENAC’s western Sicilian office said the flights interfered with the Italian coast guard’s exclusive role in coordinating search and rescue efforts and put …

11 months, 1 week ago

Italian court drops charges against migrant rescue ship crews and ends long-running legal battle

Associated Press

ROME — An Italian court on Friday dismissed a long-running case against rescue ship crews of three humanitarian organizations, dropping charges accusing them of collaborating with smugglers as they helped rescue thousands of migrants at sea. The judges in the Sicilian city of Trapani decided not to proceed to trial against 10 crew members involved in the so-called Iuventa case, …

1 year ago

European charity ship rescues 135 migrants but is assigned to distant port in Italy with 359 aboard

The Independent

1 year ago

A German charity protests after Italy seizes a migrant rescue ship involved in a weekend clash

Associated Press

MILAN — The humanitarian rescue group SOS Humanity on Wednesday protested Italy’s seizure of its migrant rescue ship Humanity 1, fresh from a weekend rescue during which the charity said Libyan Coast Guard fired live bullets and used violence. “If the so-called Libyan Coast Guard had not turned up to illegally return survivors to Libya, we would have carried out …

1 year, 1 month ago

EU watchdog wants new search and rescue rules after hundreds of migrants drown off Greece

The Independent

1 year, 1 month ago

Italy's upper chamber gives final OK to deal with Albania to house migrants during asylum process

The Independent

1 year, 2 months ago

Italy's regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean

The Independent

1 year, 2 months ago

Italy’s regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean

Associated Press

BARI, Italy — The year has gotten off to a slow start for a rescue ship that typically plies the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrants and refugees in distress. It was the second time in as many months that Italian authorities detained the 69-meter ship, operated by the European group SOS Mediterranee, while enforcing a year-old Italian government decree that …

1 year, 2 months ago

Italy's regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean

NPR

Italy's regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean Enlarge this image toggle caption Paolo Santalucia/AP Paolo Santalucia/AP BARI, Italy — The year has gotten off to a slow start for a rescue ship that typically plies the Mediterranean Sea looking for migrants and refugees in distress. It was the second time in as many months that Italian …

1 year, 2 months ago

Italian Premier Meloni says curbing migrant arrivals from Africa is about investment, not charity

Associated Press

ROME — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her European Union partners Thursday that curbing migration flows from African countries has less to do with offers of charity than strong partnerships coupled with strategic investments in those nations. Meloni told reporters at a year-end news conference that last month’s deal on the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact partially improved the …

1 year, 4 months ago

Migration experts say Italy's deal to have Albania house asylum-seekers violates international law

The Independent

1 year, 6 months ago

Berlin has been financing charities who rescue migrants in the Med and drop them off on Italian shores, says 'astonished' PM Georgia Meloni in furious letter to Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Daily Mail

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she was 'astonished' to learn of a German government initiative to finance migrant rescue charity groups operating in the Mediterranean in a letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she was 'astonished' to learn of a German government initiative to finance migrant rescue charity groups operating in the …

1 year, 6 months ago

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni slams Germany’s Scholz over illegal migration

Firstpost

The right-wing government of Meloni is pursuing a hard line against illegal immigration but Italy has seen a surge in migrant arrivals this year with some 133,000 coming ashore so far against around 69,800 in the same period in 2022 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has written to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz telling him she learned with “astonishment” of a …

1 year, 6 months ago

Amid migration crisis, Italy set to pass stricter measures on arrivals

Al Jazeera

Last week, almost 10,000 people arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Monday’s move comes as the country is facing a migration crisis, with almost 10,000 people having landed on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa last week. In April, the Italian parliament approved measures to create new migrant centres for people waiting to hear the outcome of asylum applications …

1 year, 6 months ago

Italian leader Giorgia Meloni vows to take ‘extraordinary measures’ to deal with a migrant influx

Associated Press

ROME — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni vowed Friday to take “extraordinary measures” to deal with an influx of migrants, including calling anew for a naval blockade of North Africa, after a week in which more than 6,000 people arrived within a day on the island of Lampedusa from Tunisia. In a video distributed by her office, Meloni said that Europe …

1 year, 6 months ago

A flotilla of migrant boats from Tunisia overwhelms an Italian island and tests Meloni’s policy

Associated Press

ROME — A flotilla of flimsy boats, crowded with migrants and launched from Tunisia, overwhelmed a tiny southern Italian island on Wednesday, taxing the coast guard’s capability to intercept the smugglers’ vessels and testing Premier Giorgia Meloni’s pledge to thwart irregular migration. With Lampedusa-based Italian coast guard and border patrol vessels unable to intercept all of the smugglers’ boats offshore, …

1 year, 9 months ago

Italy detains two NGO vessels for defying new migrant rescue law

Al Jazeera

Rescue ships Sea-Eye 4 and Mare*Go have been blocked for 20 days for flaunting Italian legislation they call ‘unjust’. The Italian Coast Guard has apprehended two vessels from non-governmental organisations operating in the Mediterranean Sea, after they were found to be in breach of a new law preventing ships deployed to rescue migrants from carrying out multiple operations in a …

1 year, 11 months ago

Italy’s contested bid to crack down on migrants sparks flap

Associated Press

ROME — Bogged down by leftist opposition amendments, Italy’s Senate on Tuesday delayed the start of a debate on the right-wing government’s contested immigration crackdown, while a minister’s warning to Italians about “ethnic substitution” triggered anger. Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, made the controversial comment in a speech at a labor union gathering, Lollobrigida, who hails from Premier …

1 year, 11 months ago

Italy pushes crackdown on migrants reaching its shores

Associated Press

ROME — Italy’s right-wing government pressed ahead with plans to crack down on migrants as they arrived by the hundreds on Monday at a Sicilian port after a coast guard rescue. Coalition ally Matteo Salvini, who leads the anti-migrant League party, wants the country to eliminate a status known as “special protection” for many of the tens of thousands of …

1 year, 11 months ago

Italy declares state of emergency over ‘migration congestion’

Al Jazeera

The measure will last for six months and include the redistribution of migrants across the country and repatriations. Italy’s cabinet has announced a state of emergency on immigration following a “sharp rise” of migrant arrivals along the country’s southern shores, a statement said, in a move aimed at better management of arrivals and repatriation facilities. A government source told Reuters …

2 years ago

Italy: 30 migrants missing, 17 rescued after boat capsizes in Mediterranean

Firstpost

Rome, Italy: About 30 migrants were missing and presumed drowned after the overcrowded boat they were on capsized during a rescue attempt by a cargo ship off Libya, Italy’s coastguard said on Sunday. “During the rescue operations… the boat capsized during the transfer of the migrants: 17 people were rescued and recovered by the vessel while approximately 30 migrants were …

2 years ago

Italy to raise penalties for smugglers after migrant tragedy

Associated Press

ROME — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni unveiled her right-wing government’s plans to crack down on people smugglers following a Cabinet meeting she led Thursday in the southern town near the beach where a wooden boat packed with migrants broke apart 11 days earlier, killing scores and leaving many missing. By holding the meeting in Cutro, Calabria, instead of the capital, …

2 years, 1 month ago

Italy: Migrants paid 8,000 euros each for ‘voyage of death’

Associated Press

CROTONE, Italy — Rescue teams pulled more bodies from the sea on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from Italy’s latest migration tragedy to 65, as prosecutors identified suspected smugglers who allegedly charged 8,000 euros for each person making the “voyage of death” from Turkey to Italy. Italy’s border police said in a statement that organizers of the crossing charged 8,000 …

2 years, 1 month ago

Italy migrant tragedy death toll over 60; dozens missing

India Today

The death toll rose to at least 63 in the migrant tragedy off Italy’s southern coast after rescue crews recovered several more bodies Monday, driving home once again the desperate and dangerous boat crossings of people seeking to reach Europe. “Many of them didn’t know how to swim and they saw people disappear in the waves; they saw them die,” …

2 years, 1 month ago

Italy-bound migrants paid almost $8,500 each for ‘voyage of death’

LA Times

Rescue teams pulled more bodies from the sea on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from Italy’s latest migration tragedy to 65, as prosecutors identified suspected smugglers who allegedly charged nearly $8,500 for each person making the “voyage of death” from Turkey to Italy. Italy’s border police said in a statement that organizers of the crossing charged around $8,500 each for …

Discover Related

1 week, 3 days ago

Labour considers plans to deport failed asylum seekers to the BALKANS and lock them in 'detention centres' - as the number of migrants crossing the Channel hits 5,000 this year

Daily Mail

Labour is considering plans to deport failed asylum seekers to the Balkans and lock them in 'detention centres' as the number of migrants crossing the Channel exceeds 5,000 this year. The plans, being drawn up by the government as part of Sir Keir Starmer's approach to stop small boat arrivals, would see Britain paying countries for each person relocated. It …

Labour Asylum Balkans Countries Plans Rwanda Britain

1 week, 4 days ago