‘EU leaders drive Italian authorities to the limits – and beyond – of legality’
Rome — Italian police have used beatings and electric shocks, potentially constituting "torture", to coerce migrants into being fingerprinted as Italy cracks under pressure from the EU, Amnesty International said on Thursday. "The European Union’s pressure on Italy to ‘get tough’ on refugees and migrants has led to unlawful expulsions and ill-treatment which in some cases may amount to torture," the human rights NGO said in a report. The EU-sponsored "hotspot approach" for processing people – which requires Italy to fingerprint incomers so they can be prevented from claiming asylum elsewhere – has even seen minors abused, according to testimony from over 170 migrants. Some migrants do not want to be finger-printed as they hope to move on to an EU nation of their choosing and apply for asylum there. Last year Europe saw an influx of more than 1-million migrants and asylum seekers fleeing war and poverty in its worst such crisis since World War II. "In their determination to reduce th...
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