A Bologna court has referred a new decree listing safe countries for repatriation to the European Court of Justice. On October 29, the court questioned the idea that a country where most people live in security can be described as safe, citing Nazi Germany as an example. While it was safe for most Germans, it was not safe for Jews, homosexuals, political dissidents, and Roma people.
The tribunal of Bologna has referred to the European Court of Justice a new government decree by the Italian government defining a list of safe countries for repatriation to ask which parameter should be used when determining safety and whether the principle of the primacy of EU law should prevail if a conflict arises with Italian legislation.
The referral was issued in relation to an appeal presented by an asylum seeker from Bangladesh against the territorial commission for the recognition of international protection.
The government decree listing 19 countries, including Bangladesh, as safe, said Italian courts cannot rule against it on the basis of an October 4 European Court of Justice sentence based on which Rome judges nixed the detention of a group of migrants at a new Italian-run centre in Albania earlier this month.
The list of 19 newly approved safe countries whose status is bolstered by the new 'primary' legislation was issued three days after the Rome court's ruling.
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Court questions parameters defining 'safe countries
The court in particular questioned the principle according to which a nation in which the majority of the population lives in security can be described as safe, given that the international protection system is aimed in particular at protecting minorities, citing the paradox of Nazi Germany.
Nazi Germany was extremely safe for the great majority of the German population, with the exception of Jews, homosexuals, members of the political opposition and Roma people, it said.
The legal questions were issued by the court in relation to the appeal presented by an asylum seeker from Bangladesh.
The court explicitly referred to Bangladesh, which the new decree lists as a safe country, recalling that international protection is granted to LGBTQI+ community members, victims of gender violence, ethnic and religious minorities and people forcibly displaced by weather-related events.
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Decree has nature of 'political act' notes court
The spirit of the decree, suggested the court, would have the nature of a "political act, determined by the superior needs of the government related to migration and the defence of borders, regardless of the information and the judgement expressed by members of ministerial offices regarding the security conditions of the designated country".
The decree greenlighted by the government on October 21 listing 19 countries as safe said Italian courts cannot rule against it on the basis of an October 4 European Court of Justice sentence based on which Rome judges had nixed the detention of a group of migrants at a new Italian-run center in Albania.
The 19 newly approved safe countries whose status is bolstered by the new 'primary' legislation are: Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Peru, Senegal, Serbia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.
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