The EU’s “hotspot approach” [backgrounder, PDF] to processing refugees is pressuring Italian authorities to use illegal procedures, according to an Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] report [text, PDF] released Thursday. The report was composed after conducting interviews with more than 170 migrants and refugees, and it exposed numerous accounts of unlawful expulsions and abuse that the group claims amount to torture in many cases [AI report]. AI’s campaign against the abuses [AI report] taking place in Italy culminates in three major recommendations:

Ensure that refugees and migrants are not subjected to excessive use of force, torture or other ill-treatment, or arbitrary detention by law enforcement officers during fingerprinting and other related operations. No screening should take place immediately after asylum-seekers arrive; they should first be provided with the necessary assistance, information and advice on the process. Any expulsions should be based on fair and informed screening and individual assessments, and no-one should be sent back to countries where they are at risk of serious human rights violations.

According to AI, the hotspot approach was meant to relieve pressure on frontline states, but it has only caused increased pressure and pushed Italian authorities to use force for fingerprinting individuals, created flaws in the screening process, and led to violent enforcement.

The migrant crisis continues to have a huge impact in the international world. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) [official website] said Tuesday that the governments of France and the UK are failing in their obligation to protect refugee children [JURIST report] in the Calais “Jungle” refugee camp. A UN human rights expert on Monday called for new approaches [JURIST report] to prevent trafficking among increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict. In October the UNHCR called 2016 the worst year for refugees [JURIST report] crossing the Mediterranean Sea as the death toll reached its highest point. Also in October the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [official website] called on the US government to “abolish the mandatory detention [JURIST report] of migrants, especially asylum seekers, from all countries.”