REPORT on the Joint BUDG-LIBE Mission to Sicily 22-24 July 2015
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European Parliament 2014-2019 Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee on Budgets REPORT on the joint BUDG-LIBE mission to Sicily 22-24 July 2015 1. Introduction From 22 to 24 July 2015 a joint BUDG-LIBE delegation visited Sicily to study and discuss how to address the migratory pressures that the region is facing, including in particular from a budgetary perspective. The delegation met with representatives from the Italian authorities, relevant EU agencies, the Chairman of the inquiry committee of the Italian Chamber looking into the funding and system for reception, identification and retention of migrants, the Public Prosecutor of Caltagirone as well as representatives from a number of NGO's and international organisations. Additionally, the delegation visited two reception centres: the first reception and assistance centre for migrants upon arrival in Pozzallo and the reception centre for applicants for international protection in Mineo. 1 2. Meetings with the relevant stakeholders Italian authorities The delegation met with representatives from the Italian authorities, including: The Under Secretary of State, Mr Domenico Manzione The Prefects of Agrigento and Ragusa and the Vice-Prefect of Catania The Heads of the Italian police (Questori) of Catania, Agrigento and Ragusa A representative of the national authorities in charge of AMIF spending, Ms Parisi 1 For detailed background information see the briefing prepared jointly by the Policy Departments C and D ahead of the joint mission, available at http://www.poldepnet.ep.parl.union.eu/poldept/webdav/site/poldept/shared/poldep_d/Delegations/20150714_bud g_Sicily.pdf. 1 The Vice-Prefect of Catania, Mr Gullotti, described in detail the procedure that is followed when migrants arrive. He reminded the delegation that the Prefects act as the contact point and coordination centre between all the different authorities and NGOs involved in migration management. He stressed in this context the importance of working closely together and creating synergies between all stakeholders involved to ensure that emergency needs are met despite the scarcity of resources. The Prefect of Agrigento (whose area of responsibility includes the island of Lampedusa), Mr Diomede, recalled the historical context and some statistics: since the beginning of 2015, 20.000 migrants have arrived in the Agrigento area, 15.000 of which in Lampedusa. He explained that the first reception Centre in Lampedusa is built to host 400 people, but 787 were at the time (22 July) staying in the Centre. He further clarified that every day around 300 migrants are transferred from Lampedusa to Porto Empedocle by ship, so as to avoid overcrowding. Mr Diomede mentioned that the Agrigento region has 20 reception centres as well as 38 centres for unaccompanied minors. He briefly touched upon the difficulties that Lampedusa is facing being a small island when managing migrants. Mr Vardé, Prefect of Ragusa, told the delegation that in the past, migrants were arriving in smaller boats and numbers. This changed with the Arab Spring, and nowadays he reports migrants arriving in bigger boats, with potentially up to 1000 migrants arriving in one day. Since the beginning of 2015, around 8.680 persons have arrived in the port of Pozzallo; as the harbour is small, in most cases migrants are transferred from the ships that rescued them to smaller coastguard motorboats, which can bring them on shore. This transfer procedure however entails some risks, as well as additional costs. He indicated that the First Reception Centre in Pozzallo has a capacity of around 180 persons, which can be increased to 240 in emergency circumstances. He underlined that the current situation requires a unified, administrative coordination of all stakeholders. Mr Cardona, Head of the Police in Catania, spoke on behalf of all three heads of the police and explained the role of the police when migrants arrive in Sicily. Mr Cardona underlined that there had never been public order problems related to migrants. He indicated that the police has managed to arrest around 30 traffickers in the province of Catania, as well as around 107 smugglers who had by then already been convicted in first instance. He also mentioned that the Tribunal in Catania has been reinforced with additional magistrates. He also referred to close cooperation between the police and Frontex. As regards identification of migrants, he explained that many (in particular, migrants coming from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan) are very reluctant to give their fingerprints, since they are worried about the application of the Dublin Regulation. However, migrants are always identified by taking their photos and the police do not use coercion to fingerprint them. A government responsible for AMIF (the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund) spending, Ms Parisi, told the delegation that the use of funds in Italy, in addition to a specific focus on the current situation of arrivals, follows three main axes, which are the ones also emerging from the EU agenda on migration: reception, integration, and voluntary returns. Ms Parisi mentioned that Italy had just finalised its national programme under AMIF and its implementation will be guided by a steering group under the lead of the Under Secretary of 2 State. Italy will receive approximately EUR 315 million from the AMIF under the current MFF. The Under Secretary of State, Mr Domenico Manzione, first of all stressed that Italy no longer looks at the current migrant situation as an emergency but as a structural phenomenon requiring a long term response. Indeed, in 2011 Italy received 61.000 migrants, and in 2014 the number went as high as 171.000. By July 2015, Italy had already received 86.000 migrants. The Under Secretary of State explained that Italy is currently operating its migration policies according to a plan based on three pillars: 1) Solidarity, 2) Co-responsibilities between national, regional and local authorities and 3) Distribution of migrants across Italy (based on mandatory quotas for every Region) to facilitate their integration. Regarding the (first) relocation measure aiming at redistributing 40.000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece to other EU Member States, dr. Manzione regretted the use of the legal basis of Article 78(3) TEU, which refers to a single Member State being confronted with an emergency and does not consider the phenomenon as a common challenge for the EU. He called on the EU to carefully consider how the re-distribution is done in practical terms and underlined the importance of the system being workable. The Under-Secretary of State also expressed regret that the decision does not include any provisions on returns. This was followed by a lively debate between the Italian authorities and the delegation in which most MEPs took the floor to comment and ask questions to the representatives of the Italian authorities. In reply to the questions, Under-Secretary of State Manzione explained that Italy spends around 800 million euros a year in migration management, whereas it will receive from the European Union around 300 million in the whole seven-year period. He also explained how public procurement procedures have been changed over the years in order to ensure that an adequate level of services is offered to migrants and asylum seekers (currently, the method used is that of selecting the most economically advantageous tender, i.e. the one offering the best value for money, instead of the cheapest one). He further referred to the upcoming reforms of the reception system for minors and the asylum system. In particular, the number of territorial committees who decide on asylum claims has been doubled to ensure a swift first instance decision on asylum requests. Moreover, as regards unaccompanied minors, a forthcoming regulation will redistribute the economic burden of their reception between different national authorities and will allow for the swift application of age-determination techniques whenever doubts arise as to the real age of an alleged minor. The co-Head of delegation Arthuis closed the meeting by thanking and Italian authorities for their time and explanations and concluded that what emerged is the clear need to amend the Dublin regulation and the need for the Union to be more of an actor, instead of a mere spectator, in the area. NGOs and international organisations Over the three days, the delegation met with representatives from a number of NGO's and international organisations including; Save the Children, Internal Red Cross, Jesuit Refugee Service - Centro Astalli, Diritti e Frontiere, Emergency, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNHCR and Borderline Sicilia Onlus. 3 The NGO representatives explained their daily work in and outside the different reception centres, including meeting basic needs (including health care) of migrants and informing them of their rights and responsibilities. Several NGOs also work on information campaigns aimed at the general public, for instance in order to clarify that the health risk caused by the arrival of migrants is very low. NGOs offering medical services explained that they offer not only physical, but also psychological care, given that many persons are traumatised, and that they work in cooperation with public authorities. Some NGOs regretted the lack of well-trained cultural mediators. Several NGOs underlined the importance of coordination between the Italian authorities and the NGOs, as well as between NGOs themselves, and referred in this context to a (not yet operational) Steering Group in Catania aiming at coordinating the efforts of all relevant stakeholders. Several NGOs also highlighted the need for additional funding in light of the increasing number of migrants arriving in Italy. The NGO representatives also stressed the problems faced in reception centres for unaccompanied minors, some of which were closed down given the complete absence of support measures and overnight surveillance (which results in a high risk for minors themselves). Some NGO representatives also reported delays in issuing identity documents to asylum seekers.