Scirocco: Latest news from Italy
Scirocco [ʃiˈrɔkko-Scirocco] is a southeasterly, hot strong wind that carries dust and sand across the Mediterranean Sea to Sicily and the north of Italy for often only a few hours. This short info is published since March 2021, and since June 2025 in a new format: Instead of once a month, the new Scirocco timeline provides up-to-date information on the latest political and social developments in Italy relating to the topic of migration.
July 22, 2025: Libya
The prosecution of Libyan war criminals: Italy evades responsibility
The arrest of Khaled al Hisri, known as Al Buti, by German authorities on July 18 has reignited debate over Europe’s relationship with Libyan militias implicated in grave human rights abuses. On July 18, the German authorities arrested Al Buti, a commander of the Special Deterrence Force (Rada). He is accused of murder, torture, rape, and sexual violence committed in Libya between 2015 and 2020, mostly in the notorious Mitiga prison. His extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is now under consideration in Berlin.
The Mitiga prison is at the center of a long-running ICC investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya that has been ongoing since 2011, with a list of suspected individuals including Al Buti himself. The same case has also involved Osama Almasri, Rada’s top commander who was intercepted, released and flown back to Libya on an Italian government plane, causing a political scandal. While the Italian government used a letter from the Libyan ambassador to Tajani, the Italian Foreign Minister, as justification for organising the repatriation flight, the ICC is sticking to its accusation: Italy has not fulfilled its obligation to cooperate and has disregarded the court’s requirements.
The case could mark a turning point for international accountability in Libya. The ICC has long faced obstacles to prosecute crimes from the Libyan conflict, partly due to political interference and the strategic partnerships between European governments and Libyan militias for “migration control”.
July 18, 2025: Criminalisation
Leading CJEU ruling in the Kinsa case: anti-smuggling laws must not violate fundamental rights
On June 3, 2025, O.B., a Congolese woman and mother who was arrested in August 2019 immediately after arriving at the airport in Bologna, was acquitted. O.B. traveled to Italy with her 8-year-old daughter and 13-year-old niece, whom she had taken into her care after the death of her sister, using counterfeit passports to escape death threats from her ex-husband. She was separated from the two children at the airport and charged with “facilitation of unauthorised entry”.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has now ruled that the protection of minors and the unity of the family, as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, must apply. It is not a criminal offense to enter the EU with children in one's care and apply for asylum.
The decision reinforces calls for humanitarian exceptions to prevent the abuse of Italian anti-smuggling laws, which are being used to criminalize people on the move and those who show solidarity with them. O.B., but also many other people who have been arbitrarily criminalized for migration or solidarity, deserve justice. It is to be hoped that the court ruling will have an impact on the ongoing negotiations on the EU Facilitators Package.
July 11, 2025: Labor exploitation
Borgo Mezzanone: Inhumane Living Conditions for Migrant Seasonal Workers in Southern Italy’s Agriculture
Around 5,000 migrants from Somalia, Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Syria currently live in the informal settlement of Borgo Mezzanone, near the city of Foggia (Apulia). Most of them are seasonal workers in the local tomato harvest. False promises and illegal employment agencies brought them in the exploitative conditions of southern Italian agriculture. The living conditions on the “pista”, as the settlement is also known, are extremely dramatic, especially in the summer months: the shanties, in which up to five people are squeezed into a small space, reach temperatures of up to 49 degrees. Residents report that they can barely breathe. There is neither sewage nor a waste disposal system, and garbage builds up. Water is only supplied twice a week. There is also an increased risk of fire due to the heat. Many people have already contracted illness as a result of accumulated nitrogen and smoke, and some residents have lost their lives in fires.
The reality of women on-site (who make up only 10% of all residents) is characterized by multiple marginalization, as Amnesty International reports: Almost all women are affected by human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Many live without valid residence papers and have insufficient knowledge of Italian. They live in great isolation in the camp. Due to economic hardship, fear of negative consequences for their families in their country of origin and the threat of deportation, only a few dare to reach out to the police or aid organizations and thus remain in exploitative conditions without support.
According to Giovanni Mininni, General Secretary of the trade union Flai Cgil, not even a single euro has been invested in Borgo Mezzanone so far - neither in occupational health and safety nor in decent living conditions or infrastructure. It remains to be seen whether the recent visit by a delegation of trade unionists, Italian and European parliamentarians, and representatives of the European Commission will lead to improvements in living conditions in the settlement.
July 8, 2025: CPR
Insufficient ruling by the constitutional court: CPRs remain a legal grey zone
Italy’s deportation centers (CPRs) are facing renewed criticism after a recent ruling by the Italian Constitutional Court. On July 3, the Court acknowledged that detention in CPRs constitutes a restriction of personal freedom under Article 13 of the Constitution, and therefore requires an appropriate legal framework. Yet instead of declaring the current system unconstitutional, the Court declared the complaint inadmissible and called on the Parliament to act. The problem is that CPRs operate in a legal grey zone, governed by internal regulations that vary across centres, without uniform national standards. Human rights groups like Antigone have warned for years of arbitrary restrictions, inadequate legal protections and systemic rights violations.
Medical professionals working inside CPRs have also raised alarms: detainees suffer from untreated health conditions and psychiatric distress. Some of them are on hunger strikes, often without adequate care. The National Orders of Doctors Fnomceo denounces that “CPRs put lives at risk”. Following the court's judgement, six migrants were released from CPRs in Rome and Gjader. At least three further applications are now being examined. However, the system as a whole remains unchanged. Critics note that although the court has paved the way for new legal challenges, it has not acted decisively enough. As long as parliament does not pass a law that defines legal boundaries, supervision and the rights of detainees, people will continue to be locked up in the CPRs without justification.
July 4, 2025: Labour exploitation
Migrants as commodities: new decree on labour migration
The new decreto flussi, which sets the entry quotas for foreign workers for the period 2026-2028, aims to “ensure the labour resources that are indispensable for the national economic system and production”, according to the Italian government. Over the next three years, 500,000 people - 10% more people than before - are to enter the Italian labor market. While the instrument meets the expectations of entrepreneurs on paper, in 2024, only 12% of workers who came to Italy with the decreto flussi found a permanent position and received a residence permit: Infinitely long waiting times, inadequate bureaucracy and organized crime are just some of the reasons for this. In fact, the decreto flussi is “an outstanding machine for creating illegality”, as Filippo Miraglia, part of the Ero Straniero campaign, explains. The illegalized migrants are the ones who suffer: They are “very likely to live in our country in complete precarity and without documents, at risk of being exploited”.
For the Italian government's rhetoric, the record-high decreto flussi and the policies of isolation – the Albanian detention camps, the criminalisation of civilian sea rescue organizations, and support for regimes that torture refugees – are part of the same agenda: to decide who is allowed to enter Italy. In fact, what these seemingly contradictory government policies have in common is the use of migration as firstly a political tool to awaken racism and feelings of insecurity resulting in restrictions on civil liberties, and secondly to create an exploitable workforce, notes il manifesto. Italian immigration policy forces migrants to accept any working condition and any abuse, as dismissal entails the risk of deportation.
July 1, 2025: CPR
Inside the CPRs: abuse, isolation, and legal black holes
In the past weeks, multiple reports and testimonies have shed light on the structural problems in Italian deportation centres (CPRs). On 28 June, civil society groups mobilised in Trapani to protest against the use of administrative detention, denouncing prolonged isolation and structural violence. Interviews with detainees in the Trapani-Milo CPR describe inhumane conditions: people held for weeks without knowing why, unable to contact their families and to challenge their detention. According to Ristretti Orizzonti, there are several obstacles that prevent migrants held in CPRs from accessing any legal remedy. A further investigation by Diario Prevenzione exposed the denial of the right to health inside CPRs, especially for those suffering from mental health issues. Meanwhile, videos published by Avvenire and InfoMigrants show violent scenes inside the CPR of Gradisca d’Isonzo, where police are seen beating a detainee. Authorities have denied abuse, but the footage reinforces concerns on the systemic violence and impunity inside CPRs. The CPR system, originally justified as a logistical tool for deportations, now serves as a hidden and unaccountable detention regime. Migrants are locked for up until 18 months, without charges, without trial, and without rights.
June 26, 2025: Italy-Albania deal
Media reports reveal direct deportations from Albanian CPR
On 23 June 2025, Italian media reported on an incident that had already taken place on 9 May: In a cloak-and-dagger operation, the Italian Meloni government deported five Egyptian citizens who had been housed in the Italian deportation centre (CPR) in Gjadër (Albania) via the airport in Tirana. According to previous practice, people housed in Albania were always brought to Italy before deportation. The deportation flight took off from Rome Fiumicino International Airport and landed in Albania shortly afterwards. There, the five people were taken on board and subsequently deported to Egypt. This procedure raises serious doubts as to its compatibility with applicable regulations: According to Gianfranco Schiavone of the Associazione per gli studi giuridici sull'immigrazione (Association for Legal Studies on Immigration), the transport of the individuals took place in a kind of legal vacuum. The transport of the individuals outside the centre of Gjadër on Albanian territory was not subject to judicial review and was therefore carried out without any legal basis. Furthermore, the immediate deportation contravenes the European Return Regulation. This practice also makes it difficult for the public to monitor compliance with the fundamental human rights of those affected.
June 20, 2025: Death and disappearance
Deaths and disappearances at the borders: between memory and erasure
On 13 June, we took part in a conference organised by the association Memoria Mediterranea and CLEDU (the Law Clinic of the University): "Together with the mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers and family members of people who have died or gone missing along European borders – at sea, in detention centres, or at border crossings – the event will provide a space for families to assert their struggle for the search, identification, truth and justice for their lost loved ones, in the face of the responsible and competent institutions."
Memoria Mediterranea is the association that has taken over the structure of Borderline Sicilia, our former partner. Its primary focus is on supporting relatives in the identification and repatriation of human remains.
At the conference, the relatives of the deceased and missing at the borders had the opportunity to speak (see pictures below). In the afternoon, a list was drawn up of the measures urgently needed from the state in order to carry out identifications in a systematic and standardised manner and to establish a binding procedure within the authorities in cases of deaths and disappearances at sea.
We also featured the voices of MemMed in our Streiflicht magazine “Verlorene Leben, unerzählte Geschichten" (currently only in German).
Front image: Wolfgang Hasselmann, unsplash
