The guarantor for the rights of detained persons in Italy is focusing again on the topic of migrants at the hotspot on Lampedusa. He said it is unacceptable that their quarantine is prolonged with the arrival of each new guest in the facility.
Making quarantine start over for every guest at the hotspot on Lampedusa every time a new person arrives is "unacceptable", said the guarantor for the rights of detained persons in Italy, Mauro Palma, in his bulletin on April 21.
"The number of people in the hotspots remains high: 116 people in Lampedusa, 50 in Pozzallo, and 57 in Messina," he said.
An 'endless' process is unacceptable
Palma said that he observed "the recent entrance of five new people at the hotspot in Lampedusa; and at the same read an order from the island's mayor calling for prolonging quarantine, including for migrants who started their quarantine on April 6, until April 28."
"It would seem that the arrival of new people in the facility determines a starting over of the quarantine period for everyone, including those who were already there. Obviously this 'endless' procedure is far from being acceptable," Palma said.
483 arrivals by sea thus far in April
On Tuesday in an informational hearing before the Lower House Constitutional Affairs Committee, Italian Interior Minster Luciana Lamorgese said there have been a total of 483 arrivals by sea thus far in April, double the number of those in March. She said there may also be news regarding the management of humanitarian ships.
"We are working with the German minister to foresee the possibility that the port is attributed to the country of the flag" of the ship that rescues migrants. Lamorgese also said that the 180 migrants on the 'Rubattino' - the ferry boat where the migrants who were rescued by the ships Alan Kurdi and Aita Mari were placed in quarantine - "will be distributed in Europe".
The ferry is currently docked in the port of Palermo, and all of the migrants on board have tested negative for the coronavirus. A total of 222 tests were conducted by Red Cross personnel, which has the task of ensuring healthcare management for the migrants during the quarantine period.