UN, 'Italy abandons harsh measures against migrants'

(ANSA) - ROME, APRIL 14 - "Any new policy in the context of the state of emergency must comply with Italy's human rights obligations".

This is the appeal launched by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk according to which "the right to life and the prohibition of refoulement cannot be waived, not even in such circumstances".

Turk, according to the UN website, "has urged the Italian government to abandon the strict new law adopted earlier this year which limits civilian search and rescue operations and to refrain from criminalizing those involved in providing life-saving assistance".

    "We are witnessing - Turk stated, again according to the UN website - a sharp increase in the number of desperate people who put their lives at risk"trying to cross the Mediterranean.

We cannot afford to procrastinate and get bogged down in a new accountability debate.

Human lives are at stake".

    "Experience has shown us that taking a harder line to curb irregular migration will not prevent departures, but will instead lead to more human suffering and deaths at sea", continued the High Commissioner, recalling that it would be very wiser for countries to offer "safe and regular routes for migration to avoid unnecessary deaths".

    Turk, continues the UN website, also praised "the efforts of the Italian Coast Guard, which has saved around 2,000 people since Friday".

Italy reports that around 31,300 migrants have arrived in the country this year, compared to around 7,900 in the same period last year.

(HANDLE).