The Court of Justice of the European Union has established that a hosting program for a migrant applying for international protection can't be revoked, even if he or she has been responsible of crimes and violent acts. Depriving an immigrant of hosting conditions "always constitutes a disproportionate sanction as it is detrimental to human dignity," the court noted.
The hosting program for a migrant seeking international protection can't be terminated even if he has been responsible of a crime and violent acts because such a deprivation "constitutes a disproportionate sanction as it is detrimental to human dignity", the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has said.
The opinion issued by the CJEU concerns the case of a 30-year-old Senegalese man who was expelled from a hosting program with a measure taken by the prefecture of Florence after he attacked in 2019 a Trenitalia official at a station while trying to get on a train without a ticket, Tuscan daily Il Tirreno reported on Friday, August 12.
The Senegalese citizen, who is currently being tried by a criminal court for the alleged aggression, appealed against the prefecture's decision and Tuscany's regional administrative court TAR ruled in his favor.
The State legal service subsequently appealed against TAR's decision to the Council of State, Italy's top administrative court which requested the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union before ruling on the case, Il Tirreno explained.
Italian law takes away migrants' dignity, court tells Council of State
The Luxembourg-based court issued its opinion on the case on August 1. It established that revoking the plan -- which implies withdrawing financial aid for daily expenses and clothing, housing and food -- harms the dignity of a migrant, even if he has perpetrated violent and serious acts.
The European judges cited the directive on immigration number 33 of 2013 under which member States of the Union ensure under any circumstance access to healthcare and guarantee dignified living conditions to all applicants of international protection.
The European court noted instead that Italian law, with the 'hosting decree' of 2015, contrasts with European legislation "because sanctions against violent migrants include the possibility of revoking material hosting conditions".
A migrant can therefore remain without housing, food, clothes and financial aid and be deprived of "dignified living conditions," it said.