According to the latest annual report by Human Rights Watch, Italy has adopted an increasingly repressive approach to migration control in recent years, raising serious concerns over respect for human rights. The organisation highlights, among other issues, the detention of migrants in Albania while awaiting deportation and the obstruction of humanitarian rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
The report also criticises Italian authorities for failing to execute an international arrest warrant against a Libyan official wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. These issues are compounded, Human Rights Watch says, by new domestic security measures that pose “serious concerns” for freedom of expression and association, as well as by reports of racial profiling by police forces and persistent violence against women.
The criticism extends to the European level. In the chapter devoted to the European Union, Human Rights Watch notes that racism and discrimination remain structural problems, worsened by the growing normalisation of far-right narratives by mainstream political parties. The report also refers to “backsliding” on the rule of law in several member states and denounces the inertia of EU institutions: the Council of the EU is accused of failing to take effective action, while the European Commission is said to have responded inconsistently, including in cases involving Hungary and Italy for not arresting individuals sought by the ICC.
Particularly harsh is the assessment of Brussels’ migration policy. According to Human Rights Watch, efforts by the EU and its member states to curb migration “at all costs” have continued to result in serious human rights violations. Much of the responsibility is attributed to the externalisation of migration controls, a strategy that has undermined the EU’s foreign policy credibility in the Mediterranean and beyond. In this context, the EU is accused of providing political and financial support, directly or indirectly, to transit countries such as Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania, despite documented repressive practices and violations of fundamental rights.