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Resolution 2000 (2014) Final version
The large-scale arrival of mixed migratory flows on Italian shores
1. The increased arrival of mixed
migratory flows to Italian shores has put the migration policies
of Europe in general, and of Italy in particular, under considerable
pressure. Comprehensive approaches to the evolving trends are still
required for the international protection and human rights of many
children, women and men.
2. In 2013, 42 925 irregular migrants, including approximately
27 800 asylum seekers, arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.
Hundreds of others perished at sea. By 12 May 2014, 36 627 had already
arrived in the country.
3. On 3 October 2013, the unprecedented loss of 368 migrants’
lives in a single shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa caused a
global shock wave and served as a turning point for change.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly commends the improved efforts by
the Italian authorities to respond to the emergencies, in particular
through the “Mare Nostrum” operation. However, there is still a
dire need to meet the structural challenges to make the Italian
and European systems fit for purpose. On the one hand, adequate reception
capacities, proper identification and subsequent control of the
movements of the identified people, and swift and transparent processing
of mixed migration flows are requirements that need to be fully
met by the Italian authorities. On the other hand, the European
authorities have to redefine their immigration policies and regulations
and to support them with adequate financial and operational means.
5. Many migrants do not want to stay in Italy because they wish
to join their relatives or look for better job opportunities in
other European countries. This causes irregular movements to other
parts of Europe, which undermine confidence in the European legal
order and highlight the need for a review of the Council of the European
Union Regulation establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining
the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application
lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national,
also known as the “Dublin Regulation”, and its implementation.
6. The Assembly recalls its Resolution 1820 (2011) “Asylum seekers
and refugees: sharing responsibilities in Europe”, and stresses
that all Council of Europe member States and the European Union
should display more solidarity with Italy and other European front-line
countries currently faced with arrivals of migrants from the southern
Mediterranean. In return, Italy and the other European front-line
countries need to assure their European partners that they will
take all necessary measures to ensure that people who enter the
country irregularly do not continue their journey into other member
States of the Council of Europe. This resolution also calls on the
European Union to “modify the Dublin system, … both to ensure fair
treatment and appropriate guarantees for asylum seekers and beneficiaries
of international protection and also to assist individual member
States to face possible situations of exceptional pressure”.
7. The Assembly therefore calls on the Italian authorities to
implement a comprehensive series of measures to deal with mixed
migratory arrivals in Italy, including:
7.1. with regard to managing the arrival of mixed migratory
flows, to:
7.1.1. continue to carry out their supportive
search and rescue operations, in close co-operation with other member
States’ operations and joint operations of the European Agency for the
Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of
the Member States of the European Union (Frontex);
7.1.2. step up their efforts to arrest traffickers and smugglers,
and ensure that those arrested are brought to justice; well-publicised
deterrent sentences for those convicted should follow;
7.1.3. set up a reliable, fair and transparent system to identify
migrants immediately after their arrival on shore and to establish
swiftly who is entitled to asylum and international protection,
in order to protect genuine refugees and asylum seekers;
7.1.4. ensure the respect for principles and provisions of the
Dublin Regulation as regards the responsibilities of the country
of first arrival;
7.2. with regard to reception and detention capacities, to:
7.2.1. ensure adequate reception conditions and medical assistance
in accordance with relevant human rights and humanitarian standards;
7.2.2. set up an independent monitoring body to check that conditions
and standards in reception and detention facilities are in compliance
with international standards;
7.2.3. reduce the eighteen-month maximum period of time allowed
for the detention of foreign nationals without any legal permit
to stay;
7.2.4. step up the exchange of best practices in terms of governance,
and provide training courses for operating staff in the field of
migration;
7.2.5. facilitate access to the reception and detention centres
by international organisations and non-governmental organisations
(NGOs);
7.2.6. properly inform irregular migrants, asylum seekers and
refugees of their rights and obligations.
8. The Assembly welcomes the announcement by the Italian authorities
of the priority to be given to the development of a common European
response to arrivals of mixed migratory flows on Europe’s southern shores
during the upcoming Italian presidency of the Council of the European
Union (July-December 2014), and calls for concrete solutions.
9. The Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States to:
9.1. provide financial and operational
assistance to the “Mare Nostrum” operation in order to ensure its
continuing success;
9.2. promote changes in the Eurodac regulations to facilitate
the identification of migrants and asylum seekers through the use
of DNA records in addition to fingerprints;
9.3. implement measures to make border controls more effective;
9.4. respond positively to the suggestion of the Italian Minister
of the Interior and others that camps should be set up in North
African countries to process applications for asylum and international protection,
and that the aim should be to intercept migrants before they set
sail; consideration should be given to establishing centres to which
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees would have access
so that human rights can be protected;
9.5. take action to identify, arrest and bring to justice those
engaged in trafficking;
9.6. respond positively to the request of the Libyan coastguard
for financial and other support from the European Union to strengthen
the capacity of the coastguard.