On 1st July 2009 - when still on the high seas - the Italian military ship “Orione” has handed over 82 refugees and migrants to Libyan military ships so as to reject them to Libya. 76 of them are Eritreans, among them 4 women and 3 minors; 33 of those had already been recognised as refugees under the Mandate of the United Nations. All the others, immediately admitted in various detention centres in Libya, have applied to the UNHCR for recognition of refugee status. According to what they referred, at least 8 Eritreans have suffered from physical violence at the hand of the Italian soldiers, to such an extent that six of theme were hospitalised in Tripoli soon after arrival.
