L’ineffettività del diritto d’asilo alla frontiera. Fra prassi informali e diritti negati

The human rights violations and the illegal pushbacks that asylum seekers systematically suffer in the attempt to enter the European Union through the ‘Balkan Route’ are nowadays a widely documented reality. However, access to justice and judicial protection – to which they are entitled – are not often a viable course of action for migrants trapped into this humanitarian crisis. This article analyses the implications of the recent decision n. 5642/2020 of the Court of Rome, which represents the first ruling in Italy ascertaining the illegality of ‘informal re- admissions’ enacted by the government against asylum seekers at the border. The authors intend to investigate the legal framework and the most relevant European rulings in which the decision take place. Indeed, as a result of this case, the Italian Ministry of the Interior was ordered to allow the claimant’s immediate access to Italian territory and to examine his asylum application, acknowledging the inhuman and degrading treatment migrants are subjected to along the ‘Balkan Route’. Within the analysis, a specific focus is given to States’ obligations towards migrants applying for international protection at the border and to formal limits that bilateral agreements must respect.