A week after the temporary closure of the Lampedusa hotspot due to inhuman conditions and yet the "progressive and rapid emptying" of the center has still not been completed. There are still 50-70 people there.
Among those still in the hotspot include a young single woman whose saftey is at risk in such a promiscuous environment and a Tunisian man with psychological difficulties who attempted suicide on March 17. This is the situation as outlined by the organisations CILD, ASGI and IndieWatch, which are calling for the definitive closure of the Lampedusa hotspot and for dignified accommodation for the migrants still living there.
"Illegal treatment" of migrants
The organisations say that for the single men the announcement of the temporary closure has meant transferal to a migrant detention centre in Turin, Brindisi or Potenza pending possible repatriation. The migrants transferred from Lampedusa to the facility in Potenza have been on hunger strike for three days. In many cases, they had expressed the intention of requesting international protection "and so now find themselves in a condition of illegal detention" under Italian law, CILD, ASGI and IndieWatch explain.
Calling for the definitive closure of the hotspot
The associations are demanding the "immediate emptying of the hotspot and its definitive closure" and that the right to a defence in the detention and repatriation centres is guaranteed. In addition, they insist that all the migrants must have access to asylum application procedures and to the reception system for asylum seekers and that all might be transferred to non-detention facilities, also in consideration of the inhuman conditions at the Lampedusa hotspot.