French, Swiss and Austrian authorities at the border with northern Italy "systematically" send back to Italy "minors they have intercepted," failing to abide by their obligation under the Dublin III regulation, "to receive and examine any request for interanational protection," according to humanitarian organization Intersos.
In a recent report called ''Unaccompanied foreign minors along the northern Italian border'', the organization said that the obligation to protect migrants ''is constantly violated'' as foreigners, including minors, are denied the possibility of submitting a request for protection, ''in spite of the fact that such a desire is expressed by migrants''
Rules 'not implemented' at the border
The document was drafted by monitoring the condition of unaccompanied foreign minors along Italy's northern border from August until October 2017. Intersos reported in such areas ''widespread failure to implement international, European and national legislation for the protection of unaccompanied minors with routine procedures that seriously harm the rights and psychological and physical well-being of the people involved''.The organization also said that the assistance and shelter provided to unaccompanied foreign minors ''is not uniform, with very different conditions'' in the areas examined by the study. The organization said that, for example, the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and north-western Piedmont region took charge of minors within 24 hours while the same did not happen in border cities including Ventimiglia, where ''atypical forms of shelter'' were reported by Intersos.The NGO also said that it was common practice for minors to leave hosting centers across the areas examined.
NGO urges investments to shelter minors
Intersos reported that the total number of minors intercepted and registered by Italian authorities over the past six years is 62,672. As of 2011, ''the number of arrivals of foreign minors has been constantly on the rise every year until the decrease registered over the first seven months of 2017''. It said one out of four minors registered left hosting facilities and were untraceable. ''Investing in sheltering and integrating foreign minors would be an intelligent operation and would also be useful, as well as representing a sign of civilization'' and society ''would benefit from the fact that it would be harder for integrated individuals with a certain degree of stability to become part of illegal networks''.