Amnesty International criticised
Italy for its treatment of asylum seekers in a report released
on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights on Monday.
The report lamented the "erosion of the human rights of
asylum seekers" following the approval of the government's
security-and-migration decree.
It also complained about the "xenophobic rhetoric of the
political world".
It said that Premier Giuseppe Conte's government had
"immediately distinguished itself for repressive management of
the migratory phenomenon".
"The authorities have hampered and continue to hamper the
landing in Italy of hundreds of people saved at sea, inflicting
further suffering on them and undermining the overall
functioning on the system of maritime search and rescue," it
said.
Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, who has
spearheaded the government's tough stance that has seen NGO
ships with rescued migrants denied access to Italian ports, said
he was not concerned about the report.
"Drug-dealers, mafiosi, delinquents and illegal immigrants do
not have asylum in my country," he said.
"My conscience is clean and I'm going to keep going".
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