URGENT ACTION: REFUGEES REFOULEMENTS FROM ITALY AND MALTA

To the attention of: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Navi Pillay UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg EU Commission members We express our concern and disappointment about the continous refoulments of Eritrean and Somalian refugees, carried out by the Governments of Italy and Malta. We ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Commissioner for Refugees, the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner and the members of the European Commission to take urgent and appropriate misure to stop these crimes agains humanity, that transform the Geneve Convention, the EU Charter of fundamental rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in waste paper. Non-refoulement is a principle in international law, and it’s necessary to respect it: it concerns the protection of refugees from being returned to places where their lives or freedoms could be threatened. It must be said that non-refoulement forbids the expulsion of a refugee into an area where the person might be again subjected to persecution. Other than the cases reported in the peace of news above (in Italian), Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" shown in a recent inquiry how refoulements from Italian coasts are going on. Moreover, EveryOne Group, which is based in Italy, is receiving in these days news of new refoulements of Eritrean and Somalian refugees from Italy to Libya: Italian media didn't report any news about them, and it shoul be very important to investigate. For the EveryOne Group, the co-presidents Matteo Pegoraro, Roberto Malini and Dario Picciau For further information: EveryOne Group +39 393 4010237 :: +39 334 3449180 :: +39 331 3585406 info@everyonegroup.com - www.everyonegroup.com