30 April 2015
In two separate decisions made by the Council of Aliens Law Litigation on the 27 and 28 April, an Iraqi and a Congolese national had their returns to Italy under the Dublin III Regulation suspended after the Court found that if returned they would be exposed to a risk of inhuman and degrading treatment prohibited by the European Convention on Human Rights.
Relying on reports from the Asylum Information Database (AIDA), the applicants had argued that asylum seekers returned under the Dublin system may in practice have limited access to reception facilities in Italy, if at all, and so if sent to Italy would not be able to access accommodation, judicial assistance, and financial support.
The decision underlines that the large numbers of migrants and refugees arriving recently in Italy are placing further strains on the ability of Italy to provide facilities for returnees.
This article originally appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 30 April 2015. You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.