EU investigate treatment of migrants on Lampedusa, Italy, after video
Baku, December 19 (AZERTAC). The European Commission has threatened Italy with legal action for possible breaches of the EU`s rules on granting asylum, after its treatment of African migrants on the island of Lampedusa.
A video showing migrants standing naked in the cold while being sprayed for scabies at a detention centre stirred outrage in Italy on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people have died in recent months as refugees seek to enter the EU through Lampedusa, an Italian island south of Sicily, putting the EU’s migration policies in the spotlight. EU leaders are due to discuss migration at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, in response to the high number of migrants drowning in recent months.
The commission`s home affairs chief, Cecilia Malmstrom, said the EU executive was investigating Italian detention centres. “The images we have seen from Lampedusa are appalling and unacceptable,” she said. “We will not hesitate to launch an infringement procedure to make sure EU standards and obligations are fully respected.”
The commission could take Italy, which bears the brunt of illegal immigration from North Africa, to court over its adherence to EU rules on acceptable conditions in detention centres, among other issues, officials said.
At this week`s summit, EU leaders will weigh proposals by the commission to address the issue, including possible changes in asylum rules that would allow people to ask for protection before reaching European soil.
Lampedusa made global headlines when more than 300 African migrants died after their ship sank off its shores on October 3. Days later, another 34 people died when their boat capsized.
Hundreds more have been rescued from often unseaworthy vessels and taken to the tiny Mediterranean island`s overcrowded detention center.
As the closest Italian island to Africa, Lampedusa is a frequent destination for refugees seeking to enter European Union countries and shipwrecks off its shores are common. Many of the migrants are from African nations, while others have fled war-torn Syria, officials say.
The Italian coast guard told CNN in September that there were some 1,250 migrants in residence, in a space designed for 250.
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