The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concern for the "continued smear campaign in Italy against NGOs." The new immigration measures proposed by the government as well as a climate of hate are threatening the rights of migrants in Italy, according to the UN.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed "concern" for the "continued smear campaigns against civil society organizations engaged in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean" as well as the "criminalization of the work of migrant rights defenders".
A group of UN experts said the Italian government, among other things, has made it practically impossible for NGO ships to continue to rescue migrants, which has caused a rise in drownings and disappearances. "Saving lives is not a crime. Protecting human dignity is not a crime," they said.
Italian government must "change course"
"The new measures and a climate of hate threaten migrants' rights in Italy," the UN experts said. They are "urgently calling on the government" to change course. "The tightening on migrant laws proposed by Italy will have a serious impact on their lives, and it is cause for serious concern," the experts said.
"During the most recent electoral campaign, some politicians fuelled a public discourse unashamedly embracing racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner rhetoric. Such speech incites hatred and discrimination," the experts said.
"Removing protecting increases vulnerability"
Since coming into power, the Italian government has implemented the anti-migrant and exclusionary measures it campaigned upon, the experts said. "Removing protection measures will increase migrants' vulnerability. They will be at greater risk from traffickers and other criminal groups," they said.
While acknowledging the challenges Italy faces due to the absence of an effective European-wide system of solidarity, the UN experts said this did not justify violations of human rights. "The government must adhere to the values enshrined in the Italian constitution, and the international commitments it signed up to," they said.