UN Human Rights Council - MSF: “Italian policies make migrants invisible and unprotected”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) held an event today at the UN in Geneva titled “Migrants Left Invisible and Unprotected,” during the 58th Human Rights Council session and ahead of Italy’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) adoption in June. The event shed light on the humanitarian consequences of Italy’s current immigration laws and policies.

During the third UPR cycle, Italy had pledged to review its immigration policies to safeguard the rights of migrants and refugees in line with international human rights laws. However, nearly five years after, MSF is seeing increasingly restrictive measures, reduced protection, weakened reception systems, and a crackdown on humanitarian search and rescue activities in the central Mediterranean Sea.

“As a medical-humanitarian organization, we witness firsthand the devastating impact of these policies on the health and fundamental rights of people on the move seeking safety in Europe, especially among the most vulnerable, such as survivors of torture,” said Stefano Di Carlo, General Director MSF Italy. “It is absolutely urgent that these commitments translate into concrete, timely measures ensuring effective protection, dignified reception, and genuine solidarity.”

Recent legislation has eroded the right to asylum, increased the risk of detention, deportation, and pushbacks, and heightened the chances of further trauma for vulnerable people. These policies also hinder the rehabilitation of torture survivors. Moreover, Italy’s laws and policies have created operational and administrative barriers for NGOs engaged in maritime search and rescue efforts. As a result, MSF’s vessel Geo Barents was forced to cease operations in the Central Mediterranean — one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.

Italy’s latest national legislation, combined with EU asylum and migration policies, has further hollowed out the right to asylum, leaving migrants and refugees in a state of invisibility, neglect, and irregularity.

As Italy prepares to adopt the final report of its fourth UPR cycle, MSF urges the Italian government to accept the recommendations received and to translate them into meaningful action. In particular, MSF calls for full and effective protection for migrants and an immediate end to the obstruction of search and rescue efforts in the Central Mediterranean.

“Since the current Italian government introduced the ‘Piantedosi decree' at the beginning in 2023, MSF search and rescue vessel was sanctioned 4 times, amounting to 160 days of imposed detention” said Juan Matias Gil, MSF’s Search and Rescue representative. “Recent Italian legislative amendments make it even easier and faster to punish and confiscate a humanitarian rescue vessel. At the end, the real price will be paid by people seeking safety and protection who will find themselves in distress at sea.”

MSF also calls for access to international protection and adequate reception and integration services for migrants in need, in compliance with obligations under international humanitarian and refugee law. This is particularly urgent for survivors of torture, for whom Italy must ensure complete rehabilitation, as required under Article 14 of the UN Convention Against Torture.

MSF in Italy

MSF provides support to torture survivors in Palermo, offers services in reception centers in Agrigento, and carries out outreach work to help marginalized individuals access the public healthcare system. MSF has offices in Rome and Milan.

MSF activities in the Central Mediterranean

MSF has been engaged in search and rescue activities in the Central Mediterranean since 2015, rescuing more than 94,000 people. MSF operated its latest rescue vessel, the Geo Barents between June 2021 and December 2024, with 12,675 people rescued and brought to safety in 190 rescue operations. During this period, the team also recovered the bodies of 24 people, arranged medical evacuation for 14 people and assisted in the delivery of one baby. ​