Strasbourg, 14/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Following the collective expulsions by the Italian authorities between October 2003 and March 2004, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday denouncing the attitude of the Italian authorities and called on all Member States to refrain from carrying out collective expulsions and to guarantee individual examinations of asylum demands as well as respect for the “non refoulement” principle. The resolution presented by Pasqualina Napoletano (DS) and Martine Roure from France for the Socialist grouped, Lapo Pistelli (Margherita) and British Liberal Democrat Sarah Ludford for the ALDE, Monica Frassoni and Hélène Flautre from France on behalf of the Greens/EFA, as well as Italian members of the GUE/NGL group was adopted by 51 votes to 50. All MEPs present from the ALDE, PES, GUE/NGL, Greens/EFA, s well as the two non-attached MEPs Hans-Peter Martin from Austria and Leopold Rutowicz from Poland. Votes against came from all those attending from the EPP-ED, IND/DEM, UEN groups and two non-attached Luca Romagnoli from Italy and Ryszard Czarnecki from Poland. Only three Italians took part in the vote.
In its resolution, Parliament pointed out that the HCR had denounced the expulsion of 180 people on 17 March and had declared that it was “far from being established that Italy had taken the necessary precautions to ensure that it was not sending back refugees of good faith to Libya, which could not be considered as a safe country for asylum”. It added that, “the HCR deeply regrets the lack of transparency from both the Italian and Libyan authorities”. Parliament considers that the collective expulsions of migrants by the Italian authorities to Libya, including those on 17 March 2005, constitutes a violation of the “non refoulement” principle and that the Italian authorities had failed in their international obligations by not ensuring that the lives of the people they were expelling were not threatened in their countries of origin. It calls on the Italian authorities to guarantee the HCR free access to the Lampedusa retention centre and the people detained there who may be in need of international protection.
Parliament is also calling on the Commission to make sure, on the basis of Articles 6 TUE and 63 EC, respect for rights of asylum in the Union. It points to the need for a Community immigration and asylum policy based on opening up the legal channels for immigration and on the definition of common standards for protecting the fundamental rights of immigrants and asylum seekers throughout the European Union. It calls on the Commission to promote transparent dialogue on this issue including the publication of the results of its technical mission to Libya on illegal immigration in November/December 2004 (EUROPE 8924). The Parliament calls on Libya to allow access to international observers, to put an end to arbitrary expulsion and arrest of migrants, to ratify the Geneva Convention on the status of refugees and to recognise the HCR mandate. It requests that all readmission agreements with Libya should be made public. The Parliament finally took a stance in favour of sending a delegation composed of members of the relevant committees to the Lampedusa refugee centre and Libya so that it may assess the magnitude of the problem and ensure that action taken by the Italian and Libyan authorities is lawful.
During a brief debate, Ms Napoletano as well as Spanish Green member Raül Romeva, Cypriot Liberal Marios Matsakis (DIKO), Erik Meijer (GUE) of the Netherlands, and French Socialist Martine Roure deplored the attitude adopted by the Italian authorities. German Christian-Democrat Bernd Posselt took the defence of the Italian government, stressing how exposed the island of Lampedusa is and saying that this is not an immigration problem but the systematic trade in people. Forza Italia member Stefano Zappalà was highly critical of the ”political proceedings” against the authorities of his country. Commissioner Joe Borg said the Commission would encourage the Italian authorities to carry out an individual examination of the requests for asylum in compliance with international conventions, but that it is up to the national jurisdictions to state whether such conventions have been respected by the authorities.
During the week, Stefano Zappalà tried to convince his parliamentary colleagues of his government's good faith. In a long note addressed to them, he asserts that the Italian authorities fully complied with the law on asylum and international humanitarian law, as they faced the arrival on the small island of Lampedusa of nine embarkations with 1,235 unlawful immigrants between 13 and 21 March. Upon their arrival, the MEP explained, these persons received various kinds of aid from the authorities and from the organisations “Médecins sans frontiers” and “Misericordie d'Italia”. They had the opportunity to request political asylum but only 101 presented an official request. Among those who demonstrated the wish to ask for political asylum, 421 were transferred to a host centre in Crotone. Four hundred and ninety-four immigrants, who did not make such a request, Zappalà says, were expelled to Libya and Egypt.