Abstract

The Human Rights Commission of the Italian Senate released, on the 16th of February 2016, its last report on the Centres for Identification and Expulsion of irregular migrants in Italy. The report highlighted a set of problems regarding the conditions of detention of migrants in CIE and the new procedures of the hotspot system. The right to liberty of migrants, as guaranteed by article 5 ECHR and article 13 of the Italian Constitution, risks to be undermined by the excessive stay in centres and by the inhumane condition of detention. In addition to this, it is so far unclear which is the juridical nature of the hotspot system and which are the objectives of the pre-identification phase. A clarification of the new procedures is needed in order to ensure the full exercise of the refugee's right to international protection.