Amnesty International has raised serious concerns about the treatment of migrants in Italy, reporting that they face “illegal deprivation of liberty” in detention centers that fail to meet international standards. According to the NGO’s report, titled “Liberty and Dignity: Observations by Amnesty International on the Administrative Detention of Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Italy,” published on July 3rd 2024, migrants and asylum seekers in Italy are subjected to conditions that violate their rights.
The report is based on visits to two repatriation centers in April: the Residence and Repatriation Centers (CPR) of Ponte Galeria in Rome and Pian del Lago in Caltanissetta. Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe, Dinushika Dissanayake, stated, “Detention should be a measure of last resort. However, at the centers we visited, we met individuals who should never have been detained: those with serious mental issues or seeking asylum due to their sexual orientation or political activism, but who come from countries Italy has arbitrarily defined as safe.”
During their visits, Amnesty International representatives spoke with security officers, employees at the facilities, and detained individuals. They found that the living conditions at these centers do not comply with international rights and law. Amnesty’s findings indicate that administrative detention related to migration should not be punitive and should not impose prison-like conditions. However, the centers visited were described as extremely restrictive, inadequate, and lacking in health and safety provisions.
The NGO emphasized that these conditions violate the right to dignity of detained individuals and called on the Italian authorities to improve the situation. The report also highlighted the urgency of action due to plans for new detention centers in Italy, the introduction of mandatory border procedures under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and the upcoming implementation of the Italy-Albania agreement. Amnesty International warns that without improvements, these measures could lead to further violations of international law, affecting an increasing number of migrants and asylum seekers.