According to the ECHR Press Release,

The applicants are Tunisian nationals who were born in 1983, 1987 and 1988 respectively, the three of them living in Tunisia. On 16 and 17 September 2011 they left Tunisia by sea; their boats were subsequently intercepted by the Italian authorities. The applicants were then escorted to the island of Lampedusa, where they were transferred to a first reception centre (Centro di Soccorso e Prima Accoglienza – “CSPA”) in Contrada Imbriacola. According to the applicants, the conditions of hygiene in the centre were appalling: there were no doors separating the toilets and showers from the other rooms and water supplies were limited. They also submitted that owing to overcrowding the migrants had to sleep on the floor and that, furthermore, they were allowed no contact with the outside. On 20 September the reception centre suffered fire damage following a riot by the migrants. The applicants were taken to a sports complex for the night, where they managed to evade detection by the law enforcement agencies and reach the village of Lampedusa, where they joined in a protest demonstration with almost 1,800 other migrants. Having been arrested by the police, the applicants were finally transferred by air to Palermo and placed on two ships moored in that city’s harbour, where they spent four days aboard. The applicants were finally removed to Tunisia on 27 and 29 September 2011. Before their departure they were interviewed by the Tunisian Consul, who, according to the applicants, merely recorded their identities in accordance with the agreements of April 2011 between Italy and Tunisia. Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) of the European Convention, the applicants complain of their conditions of detention in the reception centre and on board the ships. They also allege that their detention was contrary to Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security), Article 5 § 2 (right to be promptly informed of the reasons for deprivation of liberty) and Article 5 § 4 (right to a decision on the lawfulness of detention). Relying on Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), they also submit that they had no effective domestic remedy by which to complain of the violation of their rights. Finally, the applicants submit that they were subjected to collective expulsion, which is prohibited under Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 (prohibition of collective expulsion of aliens).