Migrations, the new report from the western Alpine border, crossed by 145,600 people: Syrians, Afghans and Tunisians, 47% of the entire flow

OULX (High Susa Valley) – The city of Oulx represents one of the last stages of a long journey, which can last from 2 to 6 years and which can cost from 2 to 8 thousand euros. A journey that connects Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and many African countries with those of Northern and Central Europe, through Alpine passes that exceed 1800 meters in altitude. Since the beginning of 2022 Physicians for Human Rights (MEDU) provides medical assistance to thousands of migrants heading to France in the clinic set up by the association Rainbow for Africa at the Fraternità Massi refuge, in the town of Oulx, in the metropolitan area of ​​Tornino, in the Alta Val di Susa. During 2022, the Western Balkans route was crossed by approximately 145,600 people. Syrians, Afghans and Tunisians together accounted for 47% of this flow. At the beginning of 2023, on the other hand, there is a constant increase in people arriving from central and western Africa. In the nine months considered by the report – from July 2022 to March 2023 – 8,928 people passed through the Fraternità Massi refuge. Of these, 633 were women, 1,017 were minors. Here, the full report

The increase in 2023. During 2023 there was a significant increase in migrants coming from the central-southern Mediterranean route with embarkation from Tunisia, which is increasingly configured as a country of both emigration and transit, where violence and abuse against migrants are perpetrated in a dramatically recurring way. The number of women from sub-Saharan Africa is also increasing, especially from the Ivory Coast. An increase which, upon first observation of the indicators of trafficking, raises fears of the existence of a capillary and structured network of exploitation. There is also a succession of arrivals of pregnant women – usually become pregnant during the journey, without having carried out any checks along the route – and of women who have had an abortion or are accompanied by infants and children born en route.

All the risks you take. For everyone, the migratory journey is a harbinger of risks related to both the nature and the conduct of the military, paramilitary and police corps in charge of border control of various Balkan states which are often responsible for serious human rights violations. If crossing the borders of Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia often means encountering abuses and violence of various kinds, the risks do not end once you enter the territory of the European Union. In fact, the militarization of the Alpine border represents a further risk factor for the safety of people, who are now one step away from their goal.

The particular difficulties of the most vulnerable. The difficulties are even greater for some categories of vulnerable people, including people with health problems and disabilities and minors. The latter are often rejected by the French border police, despite claiming to have declared their minor age. 4,193 people had access to triage at the shelter’s clinic – set up and made available by the Rainbow for Africa association, and 1,214 were visited in depth by the team of Medus. The main pathologies treated in the frontier clinic are diseases developed during the journey such as skin infections – primarily scabies -, mycosis, infected wounds, bronchitis, frostbite or fuel burns, physical trauma and foot injuries.

No assistance in Türkiye, Serbia, Bosnia, Libya and Tunisia. In the countries crossed – Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia for the Balkan route or Libya and Tunisia for the Mediterranean one – migrants do not receive assistance, due to the absence or lack of personnel in the informal and institutional refugee camps or the impossibility of accessing the structures public and private healthcare. Furthermore, there is a high percentage of people with post-traumatic stress symptoms such as insomnia, disturbing and intrusive thoughts, nightmares, panic attacks, loss of appetite, asthenia, headache and concentration difficulties, the result of inhuman and degrading treatments suffered, in most cases by the Taliban regime, by the Libyan gendarmes and by the Tunisian authorities.

Drug addiction. Particular importance then assumes the issue of addictions, in particular from drugs such as Pregabalin (Lyrica) and Clonazepam (Rivotril), often over-prescribed during the journey or in places of detention such as prisons and CPR for the management of insomnia, agitation and stress. Numerically less significant but worthy of particular note is the presence of people with health vulnerabilities and disabilities, often pre-existing in their country of origin, who set out on a journey in the hope of finding adequate assistance and treatment.

Difficult to ask for international protection. It remains to mention the difficulties encountered by those intending to apply for international protection in Italy: submitting an asylum application at the Turin Police Headquarters is a procedure with exhausting methods and timescales: from 2 to 6 months to be able to make an appointment and a further 4-5 months to formalize the asylum application. Months in which it is not possible to access fundamental rights and the national reception system.

MEDU’s requests. Against the backdrop described, MEDU once again formulates some recommendations, strongly requesting that the protection of fundamental rights be guaranteed – in particular the right to health and access to protection – of migrants and asylum seekers in transit countries and in particularly in border areas, irrespective of their legal status.