The European Court of Human
Rights on Tuesday condemned Italy for deporting three Tunisians
in 2011 even as anti-immigrant Northern League leader Matteo
Salvini ridiculed the Catholic Church's welcoming position on
migrants and a seemingly unstoppable wave of refugees continued
to arrive on Italian shores.
In its ruling, the ECHR said Italy had "violated" the
rights of the three undocumented Tunisian migrants.
The men were rescued from the Mediterranean sea, taken to a
detention centre on the stepping-stone island of Lampedusa and
deported on the basis of an accord with Tunisia.
But the ECHR said did not have their "personal positions or
rights" respected and must be compensated with 10,000 euros a
head.
Hundreds of more migrants were picked up by ships in the
Mediterranean Tuesday.
Four corpses were found on one boat, adding to an
ever-mounting death toll.
More than 350,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the
Mediterranean in search of a better life this year and some
2,634 people have died on the way to Europe, the International
Organization for Migration said Tuesday.
In the whole of last year, according to the UN, 219,000
migrants and refugees arrived and 3,500 lost their lives.
Meanwhile as there were fresh major clashes between
migrants and police in Budapest, Salvini took issue again with
the Catholic Church's position that all comers into Italy should
be welcomed with open arms.
Salvini, head of anti-immigrant Northern League took
another swipe at the Italian Bishops Conference CEI, ridiculing
its leader in his ongoing feud with the Italian Church over
immigration policies.
CEI Secretary-General Monsignor Nunzio Galantino has
criticised politicians who fuel anti-migrant sentiments, and has
complained about the government's response to the Mediterranean
refugee crisis. His comments have prompted harsh replies from
Northern League members.
Salvini continued the clash on Tuesday, telling Radio
Anch'io that he did not view Galantino as a bishop, but as a
"joke".
"Luckily, the majority of the Church speaks very little
and works a lot. I'm attacking those bishops that would want to
run for parliament for the Communist party," Salvini said.
He also renewed calls for the Mineo refugee reception
centre (Cara) near Catania - the largest in Europe - to be
closed after a series of criminal incidents.
"There are countless investigations into that centre, and
the local mayors all say it is an enclave of crime," he said.
Catholic daily Avvenire also waded in on the immigration
issue on Tuesday, calling for an end to "racist hysteria" but
agreeing that the Mineo centre needed to be closed after the
string of incidents including a recent double murder allegedly
by an Ivorian who escaped from it.
"Keeping 3,000 people in a reception centre long-term is
madness," the paper wrote in an editorial.
The controversy over the Cara in Mineo has been heightened
by a the murder of a local couple in which an Ivorian from the
camp is the chief suspect.
Initial forensic results Tuesday said the woman victim, 70,
may have been raped.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement also attacked the
Mineo Cara on Tuesday, claiming that the junior government
partner the New Centre Right had been milking it for both money
and votes.
In other news Tuesday, it emerged that a European naval
mission against human trafficking in the Mediterranean now aims
to proceed to its so-called "Phase 2" in which it will actively
hunt for traffickers in international waters.
Admiral Enrico Credendino, commander of EUNAVFOR Med,
presented the proposal to pass to "Phase 2" to the permanent
representatives of the EU's 28 member states last week.
The proposal is set to be evaluated and potentially
approved by the council of ministers of foreign and defense
ministers scheduled later this week in Luxembourg.
The first phase of the mission involved identifying and
monitoring migrant trafficking networks, while the second and
third phase involve stopping, seizing and destroying migrant
traffickers' boats.
EUNAVFOR Med works with Frontex, Europol and Eurojust EU
agencies.
EU foreign ministers approved the launch of the first phase
of EUNAVFOR in June
The mission is part of the European Commission's Agenda on
Migration, a response to Italy's appeals for help in dealing
with the Mediterranean refugee crisis.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
