The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has said that Italy's security and migration decree is a step back for the protection of migrants.
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, on Thursday described the Italian government's security and migration decree as a step back. "The security decree raises several concerns regarding the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers," Mijatovic told ANSA. "It is a step back in terms of the access to protection for people who could face, or have already faced, serious threats."Not allowing asylum seekers to access the SPRAR system (of assistance) puts the Italian system of reception and integration into further difficulty".
'No alternative to detention'
The commissioner said that there are no alternatives to detention mentioned in the decree and that there are not enough guarantees against unnecessary, lenghthy deprivation of freedom.The decree should also ''clearly guarantee that minors with or without their families cannot be detained''.
''I am fully aware of the challenges that Italy has to deal with as a country of first arrival for migrants,'' Mijatovic said, adding that over the past few years praiseworthy efforts have been made to take in and integrate asylum seekers and refugees. ''I am thus concerned about a possible regression that would go against the traditional Italian reception of those in need of protection,'' she said.
The commsioner asked Parliament to ''avoid taking hasty decisions and to weigh the concerns that (the decree) raises, including by consulting human rights and civil society organizations.''