Paris, Mar. 31, (dpa/GNA) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France on Thursday ordered Italy to pay compensation to four Tunisian refugees who were rescued at sea, taken to the island of Lampedusa and then deported back to Tunisia.
Italy had violated a prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to liberty and security, and a prohibition against collective expulsion of aliens, the court ruled.
The four applicants left Tunisia on a makeshift boat in October 2017, before running into trouble at sea and being rescued by an Italian ship, which took them to Lampedusa, the court found.
“They were placed there for 10 days, during which they allege they were unable to leave and interact with the authorities. The conditions there were allegedly inhuman and degrading,” it added.
The four, along with 40 others, were taken later that month to the island’s airport, where they were given documents to sign that they did not understand. These were refusal-of-entry orders issued by the police.
The applicants said they were then flown to Palermo Airport on Sicily from where they were forcibly removed to Tunisia.
Italy has to pay each applicant a sum of €8,500 ($9,300) plus €4,000 in costs.
The ECHR is the court of the Council of Europe, a body independent of the European Union that was set up in 1959 and has 46 member states.
GNA