The CIE Archipelago Inquiry into the Italian Centres for Identification and Expulsion | Medici per i Diritti Umani

The CIE Archipelago Inquiry into the Italian Centres for Identification and Expulsion

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INTRODUCTION

“What is important is something else, knowing what can be done (…)
We can, at best, persuade.
From the moment we persuade, we win,
That is, we establish a situation of change which is difficult to counter.”
Franco Basaglia1
, Brasilian Conferences2

Can irregular immigration be considered a humanitarian issue and not a criminal problem, as President Lula solemnly declared in 2009 while promulgating the law for the regularisation of immigrants in Brazil? Why should an organization whose purpose is to offer medical assistance in situations of crisis and uncertainty undertake an inquiry into the Centres for Identification and Expulsion (CIE) for irregular migrants? Medici per i Diritti Umani-MEDU (Doctors for Human Rights Italy) has dealt with centres for the administrative detention of migrants since 2004.
As an independent humanitarian organization, MEDU aims at the safeguard of the health of those who are most vulnerable, as well as their access to healthcare and basic human rights. In the belief that in order to achieve these objectives, in addition to providing care it is necessary to inform the court of public opinion in the most objective way possible, Medici per i Diritti Umani has always believed that a coherent and rigorous evidence-gathering action has always been a crucial aspect of its mission. Indeed, from their very inauguration in 1998, the Centres for Temporary Stay and Assistance (Centri di Permanenza Temporanea e Assistenza – CPTAs) later renamed Centres for Identification and Expulsion, have been at the heart of a strong public debate which has questioned not only their legitimacy, but their compatibility with the basic tenets of human rights protection which should be adhered to by any constitutional state.
After all, the basic characteristics of these centres – among which their endemic inaccessibility to independent monitoring bodies and those concerned with freedom of information – have from the very beginning provoked reasonable fears regarding the safeguarding of the dignity and basic human rights of the migrant detainees. In answer to the numerous concerns raised, we are confronted by an outlook which, though it admits the necessity of improving life conditions in the CIEs, sees the a

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Document type: Report