Placement of unaccompanied minor in adult reception centre in inadequate conditions

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Darboe and Camara v Italy (5797/17)

Briefed on 1 March 2024

The case was briefed by Elena Rozzi, lawyer at ASGI.

The case concerns Mr. Darboe’s placement in an adult migrant centre and the age-assessment procedure that ensued.

In June 2016, the applicant, a Gambian national, arrived in Italy on makeshift vessels, and claimed asylum as unaccompanied minor. No information on how to initiate the relevant procedure had been provided to him and no request for international protection had been lodged in his case.

After an initial placement in a centre for foreign unaccompanied minors he was transferred to an adult reception, overcrowded and lacking adequate facilities and healthcare, where a medical examination (wrist X-ray examination) concluded that he was an adult of eighteen years old. His stay in the adult reception centre lasted more than four months.