As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in Europe, the situation for displaced people in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia deteriorated further. Vulnerable individuals and groups would face additional dangers and protection risks in this context, while unaccompanied children continued to be pushed back at alarming rates while being treated as adults, a tactical practice aimed at depriving them of their right to seek asylum in France.
This report is based on a combination of desk and field research, and sheds a light on the grave impacts of Covid-19 on an already desperate situation at the French-Italian border. It underlines the acute impact of the pandemic on all aspects of life for people on the move, including access to adequate shelter, medical care, protection, and other rights violations such as racial profiling, pushbacks and detention.
An overlooked crisis – Trafficking and sexual, and gender-based violence against displaced women in Italy
Summary: According to UNHCR data, 10% of the displaced people who arrived in Italy in 2018 were women while 18% were minors. Most of these women and girls have experienced multiple forms of violence during their journeys, often continuing in Italy. These individuals are rarely identified or supported, and most of them do not receive timely medical support for their sexual and reproductive health. During the Covid-19 lockdown in Italy, the situation for women and girls suffering from SGBV or THB deteriorated further due to government-enforced restriction of movement. Women suffering from trafficking have been left largely to fend for themselves. This report sheds light on this overlooked crisis, based on a detailed desk review as well as interviews with the NGO Differenza Donna, founded in Rome in 1989 to expose, combat, prevent and overcome gender-based violence.
Summary: At a critical time in Europe’s response to migration and asylum with the European Union’s New Pact on Migration in the pipeline, this report presents several concerns regarding pushbacks, treatment in detention, and living conditions for displaced people in Italy. In particular, the report raises concerns about Italy’s failure to uphold the principle of non-refoulement by engaging in summary pushbacks, as well as implementing bilateral readmission agreements without sufficient guarantees as stipulated in international human rights and refugee law. The report is based on a briefing prepared by RRE for the UN Committee against Torture, and is based on desk research as well as substantial contributions from the non-governmental organisations Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI), WeWorld, Diaconia Valdese and Befree.
Summary: While the ‘hot-spot’ centres in Greece and Italy, alongside the squalid make-shift camps in Northern France, have received periods of heightened international attention, the town of Ventimiglia on the French-Italian border seems to have been largely overlooked by media agencies and human rights groups. In this context, Refugee Rights Europe sent a research delegation to Ventimiglia from 21-24 August 2017, to document and shed light on the situation there. The research findings, based on interviews with 150 refugees and displaced people, highlight detrimental living conditions coupled with police violence and dangerous border crossings, creating a situation characterised by chronic insecurity and extensive mental and physical health concerns.
Summary: Une nouvelle étude du Refugee Rights Europe met en lumière la situation terrible engendrée par les conditions de vie déplorables, couplées avec les violences policières et les dangers du passage de la frontière, qui se caractérise par une insécurité chronique et des risques sérieux pour la santé physique et mentale. Du 21 au 24 août 2017, le Refugee Rights Europe (en collaboration avec le Refugee Youth Service France) a mené une étude approfondie à Vintimille, à la frontière franco-italienne. L’équipe de recherche a interrogé 150 personnes en amharique, arabe, anglais, perse et tigrinya, couvrant ainsi environ 20% de la population totale des exilés à Vintimille au moment de l’étude.
Summary: A differenza dei centri hot-spot in Grecia e in Italia e gli accampamenti informali nel nord della Francia che hanno suscitato spesso l’attenzione della comunità internazionale, la città di Ventimiglia lungo il confine Italo-francese è rimasta a margine dell’attenzione mediatica e delle associazioni a difesa diritti umani. Per far luce sulla situazione e documentare la realtà attuale , il Refugee Rights Europe, lo scorso agosto, ha inviato a Ventimiglia un’equipe di ricerca. I risultati dello studio, che si basano su 150 interviste fatte a rifugiati e sfollati, evidenziano le misere condizioni di vita che, sommate alla violenza esercitata dalle forze di polizia , danno luogo a una situazione di instabilità cronica sia sotto il profilo securitario che igienico-sanitario.
Summary: As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in Europe, the situation for displaced people in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia deteriorated further. Vulnerable individuals and groups would face additional dangers and protection risks in this context, while unaccompanied children continued to be pushed back at alarming rates while being treated as adults, a tactical practice aimed at depriving them of their right to seek asylum in France. This report is based on a combination of desk and field research, and sheds a light on the grave impacts of Covid-19 on an already desperate situation at the French-Italian border. It underlines the acute impact of the pandemic on all aspects of life for people on the move, including access to adequate shelter, medical care, protection, and other rights violations such as racial profiling, pushbacks and detention.