Brussels, 23/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has indicated that vice president Franco Frattini, to whom the UN High Commission for Refugees had voiced its disquiet on Monday, over the expulsion of illegal immigrants who had recently arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa, held a meeting on Tuesday on this subject with the Italian minister of the interior Giuseppe Pisanu. According to a press release, Mr Pisanu promised to send the Commission a detailed report on the expulsions very soon. He was also very keen to reassure Mr Frattini that every immigrant had the right to an individual meeting to clarify their situation; that all those who had the right to refugee status remained on Italian territory in order to examine their position later on; deported persons “of Egyptian nationality have been sent back to Libya from whence they came and according to the conditions that would facilitate their rapid transfer to Egypt”. According to the press release Mr Frattini called on the Italian government to develop humanitarian activities to help immigrants and expressed hope that adequate pressure would be exerted on Egypt so that it controlled its borders more efficiently. The Commissioner also confirmed his intention to speed up discussions on the setting up of a common European procedure for asylum seekers in the 25 Member States.
Amnesty International wrote to Frattini and called on the Commission, “”break its silence over Italy's forcible return to Libya of people arriving by boat on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa”. Amnesty asserted in its press statement that this practice did not comply with the UN Convention for Refugees nor with the European Convention on Human Rights, which does not allow, “expelling entire groups of people, without properly considering each individual's situation…For the third time in six months Amnesty International feels compelled to address the Commission with regard to Italy's deportation practice. On 17 March 2005, the Italian authorities forcibly returned 180 people to Libya, where they may be at risk of torture”. Amnesty also calls on the Commission to provide information on the results of the technical mission on illegal immigration, which took place in December 2004 in Libya.