ASGI (Sciabaca project) submitted a series of requests for access to public information concerning projects implemented by international and non-governmental organizations in Libya, Niger, Tunisia and Egypt, financed with Italian funds from the so called “Africa Fund”.
LIBYA
Transit country for migrants heading for Europe. Due to its strategic position, the European Union and member states are investing funds to strengthen the policy of the Libyan authorities, particularly as regards the management of migratory flows. The responsibilities of the member states with respect to the conditions of the detention centres, pull backs, evacuation procedures from the detention and resettlement centres of migrants should be investigated.
Right to enter Italy for those who have been unlawfully pushed back to Libya
On 28 November 2019, the first instance court in Rome, in adjudicating a civil lawsuit promoted by Amnesty international and represented in court by ASGI lawyers, recognizing for the first time that a foreigner illegally pushed back by Italian authorities has the right to enter Italy to seek international protection.
The Italian government has not requested any guarantees for the transfers of migrants from Libya to Rwanda
On 12 December 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) answered ASGI’s access requests, submitted in the framework of the Sciabaca and Oruka projects, aimed at obtaining information on the EUR 1 Million loan to UNHCR for humanitarian evacuation to Rwanda of asylum seekers and refugees detained in Libyan detention camps.
Concern over the fate of Rida Fahil al-Bom, member of the Libyan Platform Coalition
ASGI learned with apprehension that on Saturday December 14th the journalist and human rights activist Rida Fahil al-Bom was arrested at Tripoli while returning from Tunisia.
The (unlawful) Libyan government’s decree on rescue activities in the “Libyan SAR zone”
With a decree the Libyan government claims to exercise sovereign powers even on the international waters within its SAR zone, in which most shipwrecks occur. All this is in violation of international law.
Migrants in Rwanda from Libya with Italian funds. Asgi asks the Government for transparency
Today ASGI has submitted to the Italian Government a request for access to information regarding the financing of one million euro granted to the UNHCR for an extraordinary evacuation action towards Rwanda of asylum seekers and refugees detained in detention camps in Libya.
The negotiation of Italy with the Libyan authorities and the role of the trafficker Bija: the Avvenire investigation
The Italian daily Avvenire has documented the presence of trafficker Abd al-Rahman al-Milad, also known as “Bija”, in negotiations between the italian government and the Libyan authorities following the Italy / Libya Memorandum.
ASGI’s case against italian government for supporting the Libyan Coastguard through misuse of “Africa Fund” money goes on appeal
On 27 June 2019, the Italian Supreme Administrative Court held the first hearing in the case initiated by the Association for Legal Studies on Migration (ASGI) against the Italian Government for allegedly misusing cooperation and development money to provide operational support to the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG), in a bid to stem the flow of migrants trying to reach Italian shores.
NGO coalition requests African Commission on Human Rights to probe atrocities against migrants in Libya
On 23 June 2019, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, ASGI and ARCI submitted a joint request to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, demanding an investigation into the gross human rights violations against refugees and migrants in Libyan detention centers.
Sciabaca Project: transcripts from the Tunis conference available online
The full transcript of the international conference “Violation of human rights following the closure of the Libyan route: the jurisdictional remedies and legal responsibilities of Italy and Libya”, held in Tunis on 15 and 16 March 2019, are now available online.
