PHM-Exch> Fwd: [PHM News] PHM Italy calls for Solidarity with Migrants and immediate closure of all Centres for Identification and Expulsion (CEI)

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: PHM Global Secretariat <globalsecretariat at phmovement.org>

*Solidarity with migrants, immediate closure of all CIEs*


We are currently witnessing the protest by a group of desperate migrants
detained in a Centre for Identification and Expulsion (CIE) in Rome. Some
of the migrants have literally sewn their lips together and many others
have joined the protest through hunger strikes.



This is yet another protest by migrants, forced to take extreme forms of
self-harm which they see as the only way to draw attention to their
situation, using media pressure to get the authorities to listen.



The sewn lips forcefully shout out about the inhuman conditions in which
migrants are forced to live in Italy, creating awareness about the various
conditions they are subjected to in our country. These include both the
institutionalized centers such as the CIEs, and improvised, dilapidated and
inhabitable housing solutions.



The sewn lips shout out about the right to be considered as human beings,
regardless of the reason for their journeys – inevitably difficult, risky
and life threatening - that led then to change continents.



The Centres for Identification and Expulsion (CIE) represent an
institutional limbo, where daily violations of basic human rights occur.
These are a disgrace that can no longer be tolerated.



We invite you to refer to the report “Archipelago CIE” drawn up by the
association "Physicians for Human Rights," which shows that the "inhuman
and degrading situations within these structures are not isolated incidents
– which anyway should be considered unacceptable. Instead they are frequent
and persistent practices and conditions".



The sewn lips shout about all this in silence. We believe that the time has
come to listen.



We call upon the initiative of citizens and organizations to provide
support by extending solidarity to this heartrending protest and we appeal
to all political and legal institutions for the immediate closure of all
CIEs. This needs to be together with a redefinition of immigration rules in
Italy, resulting in a reform of the immigration policies of our country to
facilitate acceptance of migrants and a respect for human rights.



We also ask that women and men currently detained in the CIEs are not
deported but instead are freed and allowed to live in our country, in
conditions of dignity and freedom.





To join the call and support this struggle, please write to
medicisenzacamice at gmail.com

*Organizations - Gr oups - Associations joining the call :*

People’s Health Movement Europe, Medici Senza Camice (Roma), Centro di
Salute Internazionale (Bologna),  Osservatorio Italiano sulla Salute
Globale,

Società Italiana
 di
Medicina delle Migrazioni, Rete Italiana per
l
’Insegnamento della Salute Globale, Associazione Cittadini del Mondo
(Roma), Laboratorio Itinerante della Decrescita (Roma), Ciclofficina
Gazometro (Roma), Aps Garibaldi 101 (Napoli)

--
Global Secretariat
People's Health Movement (PHM)
Email: globalsecretariat at phmovement.org
Web: www.phmovement.org
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