After the racist violence in Italy: a Migreurop mission visits the area

Statement 14 January 2010

Following the serious events that occurred as of 7 January 2010 in Rosarno (in the south of Italy), where migrant workers were the victims of racist attacks and violence, over 700 of them were transferred to reception and detention centres in Crotone (Calabria) and Bari (Apulia). On Sunday, the Italian interior minister announced that those whose situation is irregular will be expelled.

In the framework of its campaign «For a right of access to places of detention» http://www.migreurop.org/rubrique268.html , the Migreurop network has decided to organise an urgent international fact-finding mission, composed by national MPs and MEPs, as well as members of the network, that will travel to Bari’s identification and expulsion centre (CIE) and to a reception centre, based in a military zone, on Friday 15 January.

The mission’s goal is to meet the authorities of the centres, as well as the migrants held therein, in order to shed light upon the circumstances in which the migrants had to be evacuated from Rosarno, the means that have been made available to them to guarantee that their rights are respected, the conditions in which they have been received and the prospects that they have been offered with regards to them staying in Italy.

The presence of the members of parliament brought together by Migreurop within this mission is a response to the recommendations contained in the Annual Report on fundamental rights adopted on 14 January 2009 by the European Parliament, which expresses concern about the proliferation of places of detention and demands greater transparency about the situation that exists in detention centres.

Members of the delegation:

Isabelle Durant (Europe Ecolo in the European Parliament - Belgium)

Helene Flautre (Europe-Ecologie in the European Parliament - France)

Rui Tavares (United European Left - GUE in the European Parliament - Portugal)

MP Maurizio Turco (Radicali)

Contact: 0033 1 53 27 87 81 contact@migreurop.org