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UNHCR welcomes adoption by Italian journalists of ethics code

News Stories, 13 June 2008

The Italian Coast Guard rescues migrants and asylum seekers found floating off the coast of Lampedusa Island. Migrants and asylum seekers sometimes get a bad press in the Italian media.

ROME, Italy, June 13 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Friday welcomed the final approval this week by the Italian Council of Journalists' Association of a code of conduct on reporting of asylum and migration issues.

The document, adopted on Thursday and known as the Rome Charter, was drafted by the Journalists' Association and the Italian National Press Federation (FSNI) in collaboration with the UN refugee agency.

The Rome Charter will provide Italian journalists with guidelines to ensure that information on asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking is balanced and accurate.

The Charter also calls for migration and asylum issues to be included in journalism courses and establishes an independent monitoring centre which will monitor media coverage of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants.

"The charter's definitely a big step forwards," said a UNHCR official. The refugee agency believes this code of ethics will lead to the correct use of language and adequate protection for all those who have requested and obtained protection in Italy, without prejudicing the right to information.

The issue of immigration has been widely discussed in recent months in Italy and there have been several cases of attacks against foreigners.

The idea of drafting a code of conduct first surfaced when UNHCR sent a letter to the editors of major news outlets in January last year to complain about the way that the media had covered a murder case in the northern Italian town of Erba. Magistrates and the media had pointed the finger at the foreign husband of the murder victim, but he was overseas at the time. Two neighbours subsequently confessed to the crime.

Following publication of the letter, UNHCR, the Journalists' Association and the FNSI set up a working group to draft a code of conduct on coverage of migration and asylum issues. The three organizations behind the Rome Charter also drew on input from members of a consultative committee, which included government officials, academics and both Italian and foreign journalists.

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Refugee Protection and Mixed Migration: A 10-Point Plan of Action

A UNHCR strategy setting out key areas in which action is required to address the phenomenon of mixed and irregular movements of people. See also: Schematic representation of a profiling and referral mechanism in the context of addressing mixed migratory movements.

International Migration

The link between movements of refugees and broader migration attracts growing attention.

Mixed Migration

Migrants are different from refugees but the two sometimes travel alongside each other.

Advocacy

Advocacy is a key element in UNHCR activities to protect people of concern.

Europe

Irregular Migration by Sea: Frequently Asked Questions

Asylum and Migration

All in the same boat: The challenges of mixed migration around the world.

Implementation of the 10-Point Plan in Different Regions

Regional Stakeholder Conferences

Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in Central Asia
(Almaty, Kazakhstan, 15-16 March 2011)
Regional Conference on Mixed Movements and Irregular Migration from the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region to Southern Africa
(Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, 6-7 September 2010)
Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Americas: Protection Considerations in the Context of Mixed Migration
(San José, Costa Rica, 19-20 November 2009)
Regional Conference on "Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Gulf of Aden"
(Sana'a, Yemen, 19-20 May 2008)
Regional Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in West Africa
(Dakar, Senegal, 13-14 November 2008)

Expert Roundtables

10-Point Plan Expert Roundtable No.1: Controlling Borders while Ensuring Protection
(Geneva, Switzerland, 20-21 November 2008)
10-Point Plan Expert Roundtable No.2: Different People, Different Needs
(Tunis, Tunisia, 6-8 July 2009)
10-Point Plan Expert Roundtable No.3: The Return of Non-Refugees and Alternative Migration Options
(Geneva, Switzerland, November 30-December 1, 2009)

Stocking of the 10-Point Plan Project

Achievements, Challenges and Lessons Learned from UNHCR's 10-Point Plan project

Drifting Towards Italy

Every year, Europe's favourite summer playground - the Mediterranean Sea - turns into a graveyard as hundreds of men, women and children drown in a desperate bid to reach European Union (EU) countries.

The Italian island of Lampedusa is just 290 kilometres off the coast of Libya. In 2006, some 18,000 people crossed this perilous stretch of sea - mostly on inflatable dinghies fitted with an outboard engine. Some were seeking employment, others wanted to reunite with family members and still others were fleeing persecution, conflict or indiscriminate violence and had no choice but to leave through irregular routes in their search for safety.

Of those who made it to Lampedusa, some 6,000 claimed asylum. And nearly half of these were recognized as refugees or granted some form of protection by the Italian authorities.

In August 2007, the authorities in Lampedusa opened a new reception centre to ensure that people arriving by boat or rescued at sea are received in a dignified way and are provided with adequate accommodation and medical facilities.

Drifting Towards Italy

Angelina Jolie meets boat people in Malta, Lampedusa

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie joined UNHCR chief António Guterres on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where they met with boat people who have fled unrest in North Africa.

More than 40,000 people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, have crossed the Mediterranean on overcrowded boats and descended on the small island since the beginning of the year.

The UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador flew to Lampedusa from Malta, which has also been a destination for people fleeing North Africa by boat.

Angelina Jolie meets boat people in Malta, Lampedusa

Fleeing Libya by sea

Thousands of people, mainly sub-Saharan Africans, are taking to the sea in ancient, leaky and overcrowded boats to escape war in their adopted homeland. Libya. The destination of choice is the Italian resort island of Lampedusa, some 600 kilometres north of Libya in the Mediterranean. Many of the passengers arrive traumatized and exhausted from the high seas journey. Others perish en route.

One Ivorian migrant describes life in Tripoli before leaving: "There was no peace. There was rifle fire everywhere. Then NATO started to bomb. We had nothing to eat. Some Libyans started to attack strangers at night, to steal your money, your mobile, whatever you have ... No way to stay there with them. Better to flee."

UNHCR estimates that one in 10 people die during the sea journey from Libya. Those bodies which wash ashore get a simple burial in Lampedusa's cemetery.

May 2011