Borderline Sicilia partner in the project on CIE (Immigrant Detention Centres)

Title: Regional seminars, round tables; Europeanisation of Asylum and Immigration Rights in Italy, Malta and Spain; Detentions, Detention Centres for Immigrants versus directives of returning illegally staying third-country nationals.

Description: Respecting human rights and fundamental dignity and freedom represents the supreme guarantee of our safety and should also be guaranteed to those who come under the directive of returning illegally staying third-country nationals 2008/115/EC. According to the European Commission, this directive "must fully take into consideration the human rights and the fundamental freedom of the people to whom it is applied".  

Given the catastrophic conditions in which Detention Centres in Italy, Malta and Spain are financed, and considering that the general public's conscience is largely fragmentary, the project's main objective is to provide information on Detention Centres and to clarify the situation within them. Furthermore, as there is a state of urgency, it is not possible to wait for the outcome of the obligatory report of the European Commission (expiry date 24.12.2013). Seminars and round tables will be held to discuss "how" and "if" the directive of repatriation can be transposed into a national directive and consequently applied to detainees in Detention Centres.

Particular attention will be dedicated to how norms are respected in the case of incarceration and arrests, for example -the necessity of regulating this area. Article 16 of the directive states that the arrest of irregular immigrants for the purpose of deporting them should be limited and applied only when other measures have been unsuccessful. It states, therefore, that it is necessary to evaluate if a measure is compatible, necessary and suitable to the situation (the principle of proportionality). More lenient measures, when they occur, should be given priority. The project's main objective is the sensitisation of the general public and the political class to this area. Seminars and round tables, which will take place in Germany, Malta, Italy and Spain, will be designed to give rise to debate and incite action. In addition, a study will also be carried out, the results of which will be aimed at the general public, the European Commission, the European Parliamentary Council, as well as parliaments on a national level. The findings of the study will be presented during a transnational conference in Berlin in September 2013.