Italy’s crackdown on ‘illegal’ migrants and what it exposes about Europe’s views on refugees

Written by Calum McDonald-Heffernan Design by Rosie Phillips

Since the beginning of the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’, the European response to asylum seekers has often been one of disdain and disinclination. With a new far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni, the restrictions on refugees arriving from Libya to Italy – the EU’s most common entry point – are arguably harsher than ever. For context, Meloni once proclaimed that we should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and sink the boats that rescued them”. While Italian patrols continue to rescue migrants taking dangerous routes across the Mediterranean, there has been a reluctance to host growing numbers an a push for other European states to do their fair share.

In the past few months, various instances of rescue ships prevented from docking on Italian shores have been reported. Rising rows between Italy and France surrounding which country should take responsibility for migrants saved at sea by NGO-ships led to many being trapped on ships for days or even weeks. SOS Humanity’s Norwegian Ocean Viking hosted 234 migrants in the first week of November, attempting to dock on Southern Italian shores - but only children and other vulnerable groups (such as those needing desperate medical attention) were allowed to disembark. According to a charity worker onboard, the ship faced fines of up to 50,000 euro a day for trespassing into a Sicilian port. In the eyes of the Italian government, the country whose flag the NGO-ship flies should hold responsibility for safely disembarking those onboard. This stance breaches UN refugee agency regulations clearly stating that coastal states must accept all peoples rescued at sea “as soon as practicable”. So why is there no popular pushback against these illegal policies? The role of politicians and the media in demonising asylum seekers, explained through the Copenhagen school’s theorem on securitisation of migration, is crucial in understanding the complicity of Italian citizens. By creating a security threat narrative, linking migrants to criminality – a threat to the ‘Italian identity’ – this enables the government to justify its restrictive policies.

Even the term refugee ‘crisis’ so often used is fearmongering, creating an ‘invasion’ of sorts in the eyes of the public. In this case, Meloni’s government holds a firm stance with zero tolerance for ‘illegal’ immigration across the Mediterranean which they argue incentivisesnsmugglers and economic migration. Easy to claim, but would people truly risk their families’ lives on flimsy boats if their sheer human rights were not at risk?

A proposal made by Italy’s interior ministry undersecretary Nicola Molteni centred around creating redistribution hubs for migrants in third countries like Libya. The premise is that the ‘migrant relocation mechanism’, wherein refugees arrive to Italy to subsequently be distributed to other EU countries, is simply “catastrophic”. “Everyone enters and no one leaves”, he argues. Similarly to Britain’s recent controversial Rwanda scheme, this would hand the burden of asylum applications to external sources. Meanwhile, Italy’s duties would be limited at taking in refugees through ‘legal’ entry procedures, preventing the EU’s nightmare – economic migrants. What are the ethical implications of this proposition? On top of longstanding political instability in Libya, Amnesty International has continuously reported human rights abuses against migrants at the hands of state officials: torture, rape, forced labour, murder, expulsion. Rummenhohl, head of operations at SOS Humanity, reported gunshot wounds and marks of regular beatings plaguing refugees aboard the Ocean Viking this November past. He also described horrific conditions in Libyan detention centres where refugees are encaged with no regular meals, often no clean water as well as cases of forced prostitution and slavery. Do these conditions really meet the UNHCR’s 1951 Refugee Convention? It is important to also note Italy’s colonisation of Libya from 1911 to 1943 when contemplating the country’s state today. Expropriating resources and wealth throughout this time, this essentially contributed to shaping the country’s fate for years to come. It is easy to forget this history but Italy, as with other rich European ex-colonial nations, has profited off the exploitation of nations in turmoil today and arguably has an obligation to aid dealing with the repercussions. Italy is not alone in attempting to delegate responsibility for refugees – in fact, this seems to be a European consensus. Italy has actually gone as far as claiming that they are leaders in supporting migrants – for European standards. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has stressed the magnitude of Italy’s contribution, receiving over 90,000 asylum seekers for processing each year, or as he calls them “illegal immigrants” that “cannot arrive solely in Italy”. This is not the first time, however, that a coastal state has accused other EU members of not pulling their weight in refugee intake. In fact, in 2020 the “Med 5” was created by Southern EU members to tackle what they described as punishment “for [their] geographical position” – their latest concern was in October, calling for more help from other EU countries with the recent rise in Ukrainian refugees. Hosting large numbers of refugees does not seem to appeal, however, as more and more EU-funded camps on Europe’s borders known as ‘asylum hotspots’ continue to appear. Think-tank Chatham House has reported examples on Italian and Greek islands such as Lesvos, depicting the deteriorating reality of overcrowded hotspots where migrants live for indefinite periods. Not to mention the 2016 EU-Turkey deal, comparable to the Rwanda scheme, in which the EU essentially bribed Turkey to prevent asylum seekers from even reaching Europe. The Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is portrayed as a philanthropic project by the EU for humanitarian protection. Instead, it seems to be a method for the EU to fulfil their international obligation under the 1951 Refugee Convention with minimal cost ramifications for themselves.

According to the European Commission, in “2021, less than 10% of all the world’s refugees and only a fraction of internally displaced persons were living in the EU”. This data is not completely reflective of EU statistics today, given the rise of refugees fleeing from Ukraine. However, a stark difference is evident between the EU’s intake of European refugees and others. Ukrainian refugees have been placed under the Temporary Protective Directive (TPD), giving them a three-year period of collective rights in the EU without examination of individual applications. It seems idealistic to ponder on the possibility of this policy being extended to other asylum seekers risking lives to get to Europe. Instead, the implementation of this scheme is notable as it exemplifies a far more compassionate way of treating displaced people. Moreover, it demonstrates the ability of EU states to partake in fairer responsibility sharing, with strong enthusiasm from many European countries to host Ukrainians.

One can only hope that this kind of treatment will become the norm to replace asylum hotspots and deterrence policies. It sets a precedent for how refugees should be treated and exposes a double standard revealing inferior treatment for non-European asylum seekers. As think tank Chatham House recently stated, “The unity shown over Ukraine can help reshape and refocus political efforts towards increased responsibility- sharing among EU member states – the perennial ‘hot potato’ of the EU asylum system”.

References

Amnesty International (no date) Libya Archives, Amnesty International Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/libya/report-libya/ (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Barry, C. and Corbet, S. (2022) New Italian government closes ports to NGO Ships, AP NEWS. Associated Press. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/europe-france-germany-migration-italy-0093a5514cb2de4f26810c8996b53ca0 (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

The Current Podcast and Rummenhohl, T. (2022) “Italy blocks migrants and asylum seekers from coming ashore.” CBC Radio.

European Commission (no date) Statistics on migration to Europe, European Commission. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-way-life/statistics-migration-europe_en#refugees-in-europe (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Iasmi Vallianatou Academy Associate, A. (2022) Lesvos: How eu asylum policy created a refugee prison in Paradise, Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank. Available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/07/lesvos-how-eu-asylum-policy-created-refugee-prison-paradise (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Pascale, F. (2022) Relocation of migrants does not work, Italian Interior Ministry undersecretary, www.euractiv.com. EURACTIV. Available at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/relocation-of-migrants-does-not-work-italian-interior-ministry-undersecretary/ (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Smith, H. (2021) EU's Southern states step up calls for 'Solidarity' in managing mass migration, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/21/eus-southern-states-step-up-calls-for-solidarity-in-managing-mass-migration (Accessed: December 11, 2022).

Tondo, L. (2022) Italy stops dozens of asylum seekers on NGO ship from coming ashore, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/06/italy-stops-dozens-of-asylum-seekers-disembarking-ngo-ship (Accessed: December 12, 2022).