Italy's decision to send immigrants back to Libya without allowing them the opportunity to file for asylum "has violated international rules on the rights of migrants", the head of the Church's Migrants Commission of the Vatican, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, said yesterday.
"According to international law all possible refugees have the right to place an asylum application and have to be presumed to have the right of a refugee status until their application is processed. In this specific case where boatpeople are being returned to Libya, these rights have clearly not been respected."
His statement came as Italy yesterday said it had returned another group of 77 migrants which it intercepted close to Lampedusa.
Even the Vatican's official newspaper, l'Osservatrore Romano criticised the decision and said that states were obliged to give the necessary assistance to people who found themselves in distress at sea.
"These people also have the right to be taken to countries where they are guaranteed their rights to file for asylum," the Vatican's official newspaper said. Libya is not considered by the international community as a "safe place" for potential refugees as it has not signed the Refugee Convention and does not guarantee human rights.
On the other hand, Brussels did not take any formal position on the issue and said it was still studying the facts surrounding this case.
However, an EU spokesman said: "We shouldn't be losing ourselves in theory" when it comes to the problem of migration.
Speaking to The Times, Michele Cercone, the EU spokesman for Justice and Home Affairs, said Commissioner Jacques Barrot would be asking the Italian authorities about what is really happening.
"We can't say whether the actions of Italy are legal or not as we don't know the exact facts of this case. We have to know where the migrants have been picked up from, whether there were any distress calls and if this happened in international waters. We can't conclude anything at this stage but we are monitoring the situation closely."