ROME -- Amnesty International says, “EU pressures have pushed Italy beyond the limits of the law, resorting to beatings and illegitimate expulsions,” in their report upon the migrant crisis.

 The ONG (non-governmental organisation) denounces Italy’s approach to the migrant crisis in their latest report, ‘Hotspot Italy: How the policies of the European Union violate the rights of refugees and migrants.’ The piece consists of 56 pages and 174 interviews collected from the time frame of various missions between summer 2015 and 2016.

 Arbitrary imprisonments, illegitimate restrictions and beatings. This is what migrants in Italy are subjected to, according to Amnesty International and the European Commission of 2015 which centred around the ‘hotspot approach’ for countries on the Mediterranean.

 Brussels wanted to use an ‘iron fist’ when carrying out the identification of migrants and Italy have seemingly carried out orders, violating the rights of migrants to asylum and shelter, says the ONG.

 “Determined to reduce the movement of migrants and refugees towards other member states, European leaders have pushed the Italian authorities to their limits, and sometimes beyond the limits of the law,” states Matteo de Bellis, researcher for Amnesty International in Italy.

 The hotspots have been introduced following the mass of arrivals, particularly in Germany, of migrants and travelling refugees from Italy without known identities. Brussels have now sent Frontex officials to these certain centres, (in Italy for example, Lampedusa, Pozzallo, Trapani and Taranto), where refugees are identified and relocated, successively, to other European countries.

 However, results for Italy were extremely disappointing -- despite around 40,000 relocations promised, only 1,200 were actually carried out.

 What happens inside the walls of these particular centres is recounted by Castro, a 19-year-old Sudanese who arrived from Libya.

 He said to Amnesty International, “I was denied entry, like everyone else, including women. A group of 10 policemen arrived and they took me first, they beat me up with a club on my back and my right wrist. Some had hold of me by my hands behind my back, others had my face. They continuously hit me for 15 minutes. They then used an electric baton, placing it on my chest and giving me a shock. I fell to the ground. I was able to see, but I couldn’t move.”

 Two girls, aged 16 and 27, also told of their experiences. They said they had suffered blows and hits to their genital organs and had been forced to get undressed.

 The Amnesty report states, “Although in the majority of cases the police remain professional and the vast majority of cases are carried out without incidents, our conclusions raise grave concerns and put under the spotlight the need for an independent investigation into the procedures currently adopted.”

 The psychological conditions and mental state in which some migrants are found are beyond belief. Ada, a 25-year-old Nigerian who arrived at Crotone, said, “There were soldiers who controlled that no one escaped…I had to say my name, surname and nationality…But my mind was somewhere else, I didn’t even remember the name of my parents.”

 Italy has since increased their number of expulsions, under pressure from Brussels, just as negotiations to elongate the list of recipient countries are underway.

 sw