Refugees
rejected
to
Libya:
ill-treatments
from the
Italian
Authorities
On 1st
July
2009 -
when
still on
the high
seas -
the
Italian
military
ship
“Orione”
has
handed
over 82
refugees
and
migrants
to
Libyan
military
ships so
as to
reject
them to
Libya.
76 of
them are
Eritreans,
among
them 4
women
and 3
minors;
33 of
those
had
already
been
recognised
as
refugees
under
the
Mandate
of the
United
Nations.
All the
others,
immediately
admitted
in
various
detention
centres
in
Libya,
have
applied
to the
UNHCR
for
recognition
of
refugee
status.
According
to what
they
referred,
at least
8
Eritreans
have
suffered
from
physical
violence
at the
hand of
the
Italian
soldiers,
to such
an
extent
that six
of them
were
hospitalised
in
Tripoli
soon
after
arrival.
One of
them,
detained
in the
centre
of
Zuwarah,
has even
reported
wounds
on his
head
caused
by
electric
sticks
(testified
with
pictures).
As soon
as the
migrants
have
realized
that
they
were
going to
be
handed
over to
the
Libyan
forces,
they
have
made a
stand
and were
forced
to
tranship.
These
declarations
have
been
released,
in
distinct
sites,
both CIR
and to
UNHCR,
both
working
in Libya
where
the
people
concerned
are
currently
retained.
Always
according
to these
declarations
the
migrants
were
arbitrarily
deprived
of their
portable
telephones,
personal
documents
and
money.
CIR
recalls
that,
over the
last
years,
thousands
of
refugees
and
migrants
have
been
saved on
the
Mediterranean
Sea by
the
Italian
military
forces
and that
the same
ship
“Orione”
distinguished
for
commitment
and
bravery
in
rescue
operations.
Now CIR
asks for
an
immediate
investigation
to
clarify
the
events
of the
night
between
30th
June and
1st
July and
that the
people
eventually
found
guilty
be
identified.
CIR also
requests
that the
Parliament
is
immediately
informed.
“The
policy
of
refoulment
of
refugees
and
asylum
seekers
towards
Libya
must
cease
immediately”
has
declared
Christopher
Hein,
Director
of CIR.
“We
cannot
tolerate
that the
Sicily
Channel
becomes
a free
zone
where no
law is
respected”
continues
Hein.
“Through
the
interviews
to the
people
concerned
on
Libyan
territory,
it has
been
evidenced
that the
recent
refoulment
operations
have
particularly
affected
people
in need
of
international
protection”.
