The European Court ordered Italy to pay a total of €27,000 to Sudanese migrants in a 2016 case.
Advertisement
The European Court of Human Rights condemned Italy on Thursday for its treatment of a group of Sudanese migrants who were forced to undress in front of other asylum seekers and faced harassing and degrading practices.
The ECHR was ruling in two cases brought against Italy by nine Sudanese citizens who arrived in the country by sea in the summer of 2016 – the height of the so-called European migrant crisis – and were removed or threatened with removal. Was. The first group – consisting of four plaintiffs – arrived in the country by boat, while the second – composed of five migrants – was rescued from the sea by the Italian Navy.
court claims supported Only the first case, brought forward by four migrants, said they were forced to strip in front of other migrants to undergo medical examinations after being arrested by Italian authorities. She said she was left naked for about ten minutes without any privacy.
The ECHR ruled in favor of the migrants and found that the process went beyond what was considered necessary and legitimate.
Groups of Sudanese migrants also said they were forced to take long bus journeys during the hottest time of the year, without being given adequate water and food and without being told where they were going or why. According to the ECHR, migrants were kept under constant police surveillance in an environment of violence and threats.
The seven ECHR judges unanimously agreed that the migrants were treated in a way that was both disturbing and degrading and concluded that Italy had violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court ordered the country to pay a total of €27,000 for moral damages and €4,000 for costs and expenses to the four Sudanese citizens.
The four migrants who reported the first cases – all born between 1980 and 1994 – have been granted international protection based on their personal histories and the consequences to their lives if returned. They are no longer at risk of deportation. Three live in Turin and one in Germany.
The ECHR also found that one of the nine migrants was beaten during another removal attempt, noting that no investigation was conducted into the incident – a further violation of Article 3.
The other five plaintiffs were part of a group of 40 migrants who said they were expelled soon after arriving in Italy. In the second case the Court found the complaints of four of the five plaintiffs not sufficiently substantiated and the Court found that Italy had not violated Article 3 in their treatment.
Source
