Italy migrant detention doctor probe criticised

Italian rights groups criticised prosecutors Thursday over an investigation into doctors suspected of helping undocumented migrants avoid detention before deportation.

Prosecutors ordered searches Wednesday involving 21 infectious disease specialists and two psychiatrists linked to centres where people without the legal right to remain in Italy can be held pending deportation.

Prosecutors suspect some medical certificates may have been issued to declare undocumented foreign nationals medically unfit for detention.

Chiara Montaldo of Doctors Without Borders said doctors must be able to carry out their role without pressure. She said the detention centres were places where the right to health was systematically compromised.

The immigration lawyers’ association ASGI said it was concerned the investigation could reduce doctors to bureaucrats who authorise detention without further checks. ASGI said doctors’ homes were searched and their phones seized.

Italy has nine centres for detention before repatriation. The government has cracked down on illegal immigration and has pushed for more migrant detention centres outside the European Union.