29 Amendments of Giusto CATANIA related to 2008/2235(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 14 April 2005 on Lampedusa;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 4 April 2006 on the situation of refugee camps in Malta;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas, during their visits, the Members noted on several occasions that the detention conditions were intolerable from the point of view of health and hygiene, overcrowding and the equipment available, and whereas the people detained were not systematically informed of the reasons for their detention, of their rights and of the progress in their case,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Regrets that the visits revealed that the existing directives were still being poorly applied, or not at all, by the Member States; calls on the Commission to take the necessary measures to ensure that the directives are transposed and complied with more than just formally;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Deplores the considerable discretionary power left to the Member States by Directive 2003/9/EC, particularly as regards the level and form of material reception conditions and access to employment and healthcare, to the detriment of the upwards harmonisingation of their legislation;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Member States to show more solidarity - not limited to technical and/or financial solidarity - with the countries most affected by the challenges of immigration; calls on the Commission to study the possibility of proposing a European burden-sharing instrument to improve efficiency for the Member States and afford a high level of protection for asylum seekers and migrants;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets that the open accommodation centres set up by certain Member States have low capacity and do not appear to meet themigrants’ needs;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for priority to be given to the reception of asylum seekers and immigrants in open reception centres; considers that asylum seekers are especially vulnerable and should, which is all the more reason for their not being subject to measures which deprive them of their liberty;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers it necessary to find a fair balance between speedy procedures, reducing the backlog and fair treatment of each individual case, particularly in accelerated procedure cases;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that the information about procedures is largely in writing – when this exists at all – and that the deadlines are very short, which poses a problem of understanding and constitutes an obstacle to asylum seekers effectively exercising their rights when they submit an application; calls for brochures explaining all the rights of asylum seekers and immigrants to be made available to them in several languages; calls on the Member States also to provide information by other means, including orally and televisually and to ensure the presence of cultural mediators at reception centres;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that it is particularly difficult for people in detention to find appropriate legal assistance given the difficulties of external communication and the specific nature of the relevant legislation;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Regrets that in most of the detention centres visited, asylum seekers and migrants complained systematically about insufficient and inadequate medical care, the difficulties of consulting or communicating with doctors and the lack of specific care (in particular, for pregnant women and victims of torture) and of appropriate medicines;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Member States to extend the medical cover currently offered to asylum seekers and migrants so that it is not limited solely to emergency care, and to also provide mental health care; points out that the right to health and medical treatment are among the most fundamental individual rights;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on Member States not to resort to the detention of asylum seekers under any circumstances, since they are per se vulnerable people in need of protection;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Regrets that the Member States are making increasing use of detention; points out that detention must be a measure of last resort to be used when all other non- detention measures have not had the desired result, must have a defined objective (e.g. expulsion), and must be proportionate and limited in duration to the achievement of that objective;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Points out that the right to contest a detention measure is laid down in Article 5 of the ECHR; calls for all third-country nationals placed in detention to be able to exercise that right before a judicial body;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Is concerned at the prison conditions in which irregular migrants and asylum seekers are keptdetained even though they have committed no crime; calls for such persons to be detained in separate, open buildings in order to ensure their protection and provision with assistance;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the Member States to improve contact with the outside world, including by allowing regular visits, increasing telephone access and making free internet access available in all the centres;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Calls on the Member States to report to the European Parliament and to civil society on the situation in such detention centres, particularly by giving notice of their existence, number and operation in annual reports to be submitted at a dedicated European Parliament hearing in which a platform of civil society associations working on detention issues is invited to participate;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Points out that all decisions and measures taken with regard to a minor must bcentre based a priority on the best interests of the child, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls for the detention of migrant minors and asylum seekers to be prohibited in principle, and for the detention of minors with their parents to be exceptional and having the sole objective of ensuring that the best interests of the child are served;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Expects that everyone working with minors and unaccompanied minors will receive specialist training appropriate to the children’s situation; considers that non-governmental organisations specialising in that field could make a major contribution to this;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Calls on the Commission to lay down the obligation to identify and search for a family member in the European Union so as to ensure that unaccompanied minors can join a family member where that is in their interest and they so request;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Is concerned at the phenomenon of unaccompanied minors disappearing; calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place a harmonised system for gathering data and statistics concerning the identification of, and provision of assistance to, unaccompanied minors in order to combat this phenomenon; believes that the best way to discourage the disappearance of minors is to provide suitable reception facilities for them, where they may also receive an education appropriate to their age (schooling, vocational training, etc.);
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place a harmonised and reliable mechanism for identifying unaccompanied minors, and common rules concerning age disputes; points out, in this regard, that during an age dispute procedure the person concerned must, as a precaution, be considered a minor until the end of the procedure and therefore treated as such, and that whenever there is reasonable doubt as to the age of the minor, this must be to the benefit of the minor;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Calls for families seeking asylum and migrants to have access to family services, child services and medical consultations by child protection specialists;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Calls on the Commission to lay down mandatory common standards for identifying vulnerable persons, particularly victims of torture or human trafficking; , people requiring special medical treatment, pregnant women and minors;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Urges the Member States to provide specialist assistance to vulnerable persons and victims of torture and trafficking, particularly psychological assistance, to ensure their protection; calls for all staff having contact with vulnerable persons, including the officials responsible for asylum applications and the police, to receive specialist training;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47a. Emphasises that asylum seekers whose application has been rejected cannot be repatriated to a third country that has not signed the Geneva Convention, since this is a minimum requirement in terms of the guaranteeing of fundamental rights;