Introduction 

In 2015, the European Commission introduced the so-called “hotspot approach” as a response to the “migration crisis” affecting the European Union - particularly frontline Member States such as Italy and Greece - following the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. The hotspot approach was designed to ensure the swift identification, registration, and fingerprinting of newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers, while enhancing coordination among national authorities, EU agencies, and international organisations.

In 2024, the European Union adopted the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is scheduled to enter into force in June 2026. Several elements of the hotspot approach have been incorporated into the new Pact, particularly with regard to border procedures, screening mechanisms, and the management of arrivals at the EU’s external borders. Over the years, however, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), through extensive field monitoring, has repeatedly highlighted significant fundamental rights challenges arising from the implementation of the hotspot approach in both Italy and Greece.

In this context, FRA recently published the report Implementing the Migration and Asylum Pact: Lessons Learnt from the Hotspot Approach, which draws on nearly a decade of operational engagement and observation activities conducted in frontline reception facilities. Based on findings gathered over several years in Italian and Greek hotspots, the report aims to identify potential risks that may arise during the implementation of the new legislative framework and to provide practical examples of measures to prevent violations of fundamental rights. The report is therefore intended to support Member States’ authorities in addressing the legal and operational challenges associated with the implementation of the Pact.

The report outlines a series of key lessons learned throughout FRA’s monitoring activities, presenting them as practical recommendations and operational considerations for national authorities and EU actors involved in migration governance.

The Italian hotspot experience and fundamental rights concerns

While the FRA report identifies a broad range of operational and legal concerns, this article concentrates on three key dimensions of the Italian experience which particularly expose the tension between migration management objectives and the protection of fundamental rights: registration procedures, reception conditions and communication practices

Fingerprinting and dignity

Respect for human dignity represents a cornerstone of the European fundamental rights framework and must guide all actions undertaken by public authorities, including screening, identification, and registration procedures at the external borders of the European Union, particularly when vulnerable individuals are concerned. 

Under the current Dublin III Regulation framework, newly arrived migrants are subject to screening, identification, and registration procedures in the Eurodac database, including fingerprint collection. With the entry into force of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, these procedures will be further expanded, as fingerprinting requirements will also apply to children over the age of six.

In Italy, allegations of excessive use of force during fingerprinting operations emerged as early as 2015, raising serious concerns about compliance with fundamental rights standards. Such practices appeared particularly problematic in light of the obligation imposed on national authorities to conduct registration activities in full respect of human dignity and with due regard for the rights of children, older persons, and persons with disabilities. 

In this regard, FRA emphasises the importance of providing migrants and asylum seekers with clear and accessible information concerning their rights, the different stages of the registration process, the consequences of registration, and the purpose of fingerprint collection. According to FRA, effective communication and counselling are essential to fostering informed cooperation and reducing the likelihood of coercive measures during the registration process. 

Furthermore, FRA highlights the importance of adequately training personnel to recognise signs of trauma and to avoid practices that may result in re-traumatisation, particularly in the case of vulnerable individuals. Ensuring respect for fundamental rights also requires the availability of spaces that guarantee privacy, the presence of female staff members, and the assistance of qualified cultural mediators throughout the registration process.  

Reception conditions and vulnerability

Italy’s geographical position at the external borders of the European Union has made the country one of the main frontline States affected by mixed migratory flows across the Central Mediterranean route. 

During nearly a decade of observations conducted in Italy and Greece, FRA identified significant shortcomings in reception conditions within hotspot facilities, mainly resulting from inadequate planning, limited administrative capacity, coordination challenges and weakness in procurement mechanisms. These structural deficiencies, combined with restrictions on transfers to inland reception facilities, contributed to persistent overcrowding and inadequate living conditions.

Although the allocation of asylum applicants to specific geographical areas may be justified for the purposes of managing asylum procedures, compliance with the principle of human dignity requires reception facilities to ensure adequate living conditions, including sufficient space to guarantee safety, privacy, and respect for fundamental rights. 

According to FRA, reception systems should be sufficiently flexible to respond effectively to sudden increases in arrivals, infrastructural needs, and the specific challenges associated with remote border facilities. In this regard, adequate contingency planning represents a key element in ensuring dignified reception conditions and compliance with fundamental rights standards. 

Furthermore, the experiences of both Italy and Greece highlighted the crucial role played by humanitarian organisations and civil society actors in addressing gaps in reception systems and mitigating the hardships faced by migrants and asylum seekers hosted in hotspot facilities. For this reason, FRA underlines the importance of maintaining a flexible operational framework that facilitates the intervention and cooperation of civil society organisations in the implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Continuous coordination and information-sharing among the various actors involved in the management of reception facilities also emerge as essential elements for ensuring effective protection of fundamental rights.

Furthermore, FRA emphasised the importance of involving local communities in the management of reception systems. Promoting interaction between residents and local actors, as well as ensuring that local communities benefit from investments connected to migration management, may contribute to reducing tensions and fostering social acceptance

Particular challenges also emerged with regard to the identification and referral of persons with special needs, including children, victims of trafficking, survivors of torture, and persons affected by trauma. FRA repeatedly highlighted the difficulties encountered in hotspot facilities in ensuring adequate support for vulnerable individuals, especially in contexts characterised by overcrowding and limited medical and psychological services.

In this regard, FRA underlined the importance of adopting standard operating procedures (SOPs) and specialised referral mechanisms to ensure the early identification of vulnerabilities and access to adequate support services. The Italian vademecum on vulnerabilities was identified as a promising practice aimed at facilitating cooperation among local actors and improving referral procedures for persons with specific needs.

At the same time, the accelerated timeline envisaged under border procedures may create additional obstacles to the effective identification of vulnerable applicants, increasing the risk that individuals requiring specific safeguards may not receive adequate protection. 

Communication and cultural mediation

To ensure that newly arrived migrants fully understand their rights and obligations, adequate linguistic assistance is essential. In this regard, the Italian experience highlighted by FRA demonstrates the added value not only of interpretation services, but also of cultural mediation. The presence of qualified cultural mediators, capable of understanding both the language and the cultural background of migrants and asylum seekers, contributes to improving the quality of communication, facilitating mutual understanding and reducing tensions within reception facilities. FRA also identified the establishment of an official registry of cultural mediators in Sicily as a promising practice that could strengthen the management of reception procedures. 

According to the FRA, information should be provided throughout all stages of the reception and asylum process. In this respect, the establishment of dedicated information points within reception facilities may facilitate access to information and support migrants and asylum seekers in understanding procedures and available services. Ensuring that residents are adequately informed may help prevent frustration, foster trust, and facilitate de-escalation within reception centres. Access to the internet may also play an important role in facilitating communication and reducing tensions. 

More generally, FRA underlined the importance of participatory and inclusive management practices in reception facilities to reduce tensions and promote respect for fundamental rights. This includes the establishment of effective complaint and response mechanisms that are also accessible to children and persons with special needs, enabling residents to safely report problems and vulnerabilities within the facilities. Such mechanisms may constitute an important safeguard for vulnerable individuals.

Finally, the implementation of recreational, educational, and community activities, as well as allowing residents to maintain a degree of autonomy in managing their daily lives, may contribute to creating an atmosphere of trust, cooperation, and social stability within reception centres.

Risks under the New Pact

Although initially conceived as an emergency response mechanism, the hotspot approach progressively evolved into a structural component of the EU migration governance. The New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum appears to institutionalise several operational elements originally developed in emergency contexts, particularly regarding border screening and accelerated procedures.

FRA observed that the processing of asylum applications in border facilities, particularly in remote locations, often involves structural deficiencies that can adversely affect the protection of fundamental rights. Difficulties in deploying adequately trained personnel, interpreters, medical staff, and technical equipment to remote hotspot areas contributed to significant delays in asylum procedures and to persistent overcrowding in reception facilities. These shortcomings demonstrate the risk that border-based migration management systems may struggle to ensure adequate procedural safeguards and dignified reception conditions, especially in situations of increased migratory pressure. 

Furthermore, the accelerated timelines envisaged under the Pact may create significant obstacles to the effective identification of vulnerabilities, access to legal assistance, and the provision of adequate reception conditions. The assessment of vulnerabilities, the identification of trauma, and the prevention of re-traumatisation require time, specialised expertise, and adequate procedural safeguards, all of which are essential to ensuring respect for human dignity. In this regard, inadequate individual assessments may increase the risk of unjustified restrictions on personal liberty, including unnecessary or disproportionate detentions, particularly for vulnerable individuals. 

It is therefore paramount to establish effective monitoring mechanisms to oversee the conditions under which migrants and asylum seekers are received and treated within hotspot facilities and border procedures. Such mechanisms should ensure continuous oversight of reception conditions, including living standards, access to services, and compliance with fundamental rights safeguards. Particular attention should be devoted to ensuring that reception facilities do not resemble prison-like environments and that all possible measures are adopted to maintain a safe and non-hostile atmosphere.

Adequate infrastructure, including sufficient space to guarantee privacy and safety, is essential, particularly for women, children, survivors of trauma, and other persons with specific vulnerabilities. In this regard, children should not be accommodated in facilities designed for adults and should instead benefit from child-appropriate reception arrangements and specialised protection measures.

Ensuring that migrants and asylum seekers are adequately informed about their rights, obligations, and the different stages of the asylum procedure also represents a key safeguard for the protection of fundamental rights. Access to specialised legal assistance provided by professionals with expertise in asylum and migration law, together with the presence of qualified cultural mediators, is crucial to ensuring effective access to procedures and reducing the risks of misunderstanding, frustration, and tension within reception facilities.

Finally, the experience of the hotspot approach in Italy and Greece demonstrates the fundamental role of civil society organisations and humanitarian actors in complementing the work of national authorities, particularly in contexts characterised by limited administrative capacity and heightened migratory pressure. Their involvement remains essential to ensuring adequate support services, monitoring conditions on the ground, and strengthening the overall protection of fundamental rights under the implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.

Conclusion

The report published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights shows that, unless adequately addressed, the shortcomings identified through the Italian hotspot experience risk becoming structurally embedded within the new EU migration governance framework established by the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. The lessons learnt from the hotspot approach should therefore guide the implementation of the Pact, which cannot only rely on operational efficiency and border management objectives, but must remain firmly grounded in the protection of fundamental rights and human dignity.