EU report asks Italy to step up actions on migrants

Brussels - Italy must do more to identify and register migrants reaching the country, and impose digital fingerprinting even through "use of force". Those are the requirements of the European Commission, which on Tuesday will present its report on how hotspots for asylum seekers are working, and how Italy is handling their data. The report identifies various sticking points, and highlights the urgent need for new centres to be opened alongside the one already present in Lampedusa. "Hotspots in Pozzallo and Porto Empedocle must be opened without delay," the report states, and work must be undertaken to open others by early 2016. Furthermore, "Italian authorities must speed up further efforts, including at a legislative level, to provide a more solid legal framework for their hotspots, and allow for the use of force in taking digital fingerprints." The aim is to reach a 100 percent fingerprint registration rate "as soon as possible." (AGI)

december 14 2015