ROME - - Il Viminale, the Italian Ministry of the Interior, has been ordered by the Court of Rome (Il Palazzo di Giustizia) to pay compensation to a Pakistani citizen who was rejected in Bosnia. 

 The asylum seeker was sent to Bosnia and then his asylum claim was rejected in October 2020. The network RiVolti ai Balcani emphasises the importance of the decision of May 9 2023 obtained by lawyers Caterina Bove and Anna Brambilla from the Association for Legal Studies on Immigration in which networking made the difference.

  On Wednesday, the Court of Rome ordered the Ministry of the Interior to pay compensation of 18,200 euros for the damage inflicted on the Pakistani asylum seeker. He was detained and rejected in October 2020 and sent from Italy to Slovenia and then from Croatia to Bosnia. 

 The network collaboration between activists, NGOs and lawyers was decisive, according to RiVolti ai Balcani. "This court order demonstrates once again the serious illegality of the 'practices' put in place by the Italian and European governments at the borders," insists the network.

 The Meloni government announced at the end of 2022 that it wanted to reactivate those readmissions, which had been suspended in 2021 after a previous precautionary ruling by the Court of Rome. “This decision dismantles those intentions and brings to light a dark picture of Italian actions,” RiVolti ai Balcani adds, “because the rule of law cannot be disregarded.”

 The recent order of May 9 by the Court of Rome reaffirms the illegitimacy of the readmission procedure implemented at the Italian eastern border on the basis of an agreement signed between Italy and Slovenia in 1996, which was never ratified by the Italian Parliament. 

 The order took into account the fact that strict proof of the damage was undoubtedly proved, for example the degrading conditions in which the applicant found himself sent back to Bosnia, risking his own safety.  

 This decision was the result of work that involved several key figures active in the fight against violence towards those on the Balkan migratory route, including journalist Elisa Oddone, the NGO 'Along the Balkan route', the Zagreb Peace Centre and all the activists working for the protection of human rights in Bosnia and along the routes travelled by people in transit.

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