Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations on the combined nineteenth and twentieth periodic reports of Italy, CERD/C/ITA/CO/19-20, 17 February 2017

As positive aspects, the Committee’s Concluding Observations highlight the abolition of the crime of irregular migration, the adoption of the National Action Plan against racism, xenophobia and intolerance and the ratification by Italy of some international legal instruments, such as the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. However, there are a number of critical aspects, such as the lack of measures to implement national anti-discrimination legislation, the immunity of Members of Parliament for racist or stigmatizing discourses on migrants, the increasing number of racial hate speeches on the Internet, the lack of an effective response to racially-motivated violence and crimes. As for migrants, the Committee expressed concern about the “hotspot” approach, in particular for the de facto detention of migrants in reception centers beyond the 48 hours allowed by law, the insufficient number of reception centers and the consequent substandard conditions therein, inadequate protection of unaccompanied minors and lack of guidelines for the identification and assistance of vulnerable people. With regard to migrant workers the Committee, while appreciating the adoption of the National Action Plan against Trafficking and Serious Exploitation 2016-2018 and law No. 199 of 2016 on ‘Caporalato’, considers the sanctions insufficient. With a positive assessment of the National Strategy for the inclusion of Roma, Sinti and Camminanti, the Committee found the persistence of critical issues related to forced evictions, segregation in substandard camps or housing structures and the high number of stateless persons present in these communities.