Last Saturday, the national demonstration against CPRs brought more than a thousand people to Bolzano. However, there are surely many South Tyroleans who don’t know exactly what these structures are or why people are detained inside them. What are these centers exactly? And why are so many people opposed to a new one opening in South Tyrol?
I centri di permanenza per il rimpatrio (CPRs) are places where irregular foreigners are held for the purpose of their removal from the Italian territory. They are not a recent creation, as similar facilities have existed in some countries since the 19th century. In Italy, they first appeared in the 1990s when the Albanian exodus generated an exaggerated fear of an “invasion,” leading to a shift towards a more security-oriented immigration policy. Additionally, Italy was required to strengthen measures against irregular immigration to be admitted to the Schengen area, and this included “Pre-removal Detention”.
Although the term “detention” in the Testo unico sull’immigrazione – the Italian law dealing with immigration – may seem to refer to a less invasive measure, the stay of foreigners in these centers represents actual detention. Legal experts refer to it as “administrative detention” which is a specific and unique legal arrangement. Foreigners are detained who have never been charged with a criminal offence; the sole purpose of CPRs is to facilitate the expulsion of irregular foreigners and, more generally, serve as a tool for managing migration. And while CPRs may look like prisons, they lack the regulations and safeguards of the penitentiary system.
In this election campaign, we have often heard that the South Tyrolean CPR will be used for the removal of individuals who pose a security threat or have committed crimes. However, this is not only what is stated in the regulations and in fact there are various reasons for expulsion.
Inside these centers, there is no distinction made between these categories, and people with entirely different situations often end up sharing the same room. Over twenty years after their initial opening, it can unfortunately be stated with certainty that CPRs are places where serious human rights violations occur, and to date, more than thirty people have died inside them. The Italian Coalition for Freedom and Civil Rights (La Coalizione italiana Libertà e Diritti civili) has described them as black holes where “detainees” are not allowed any activities, and where communication with the outside world is virtually non-existent. Living conditions are reportedly inhumane while detainees are held in limbo.
Besides the realm of activism, CPRs have also faced severe condemnation from the judiciary. In a recent judgment, for instance, the Supreme Court of Cassation (la Corte di cassazione) declared the condition of people detained in the Bari CPR inhumane and degrading, recognizing that its presence in the municipal area had damaged the city’s identity.
It is, therefore, understandable why the opening of a center in South Tyrol provokes so much indignation, especially considering that we are the only region in Italy that has not established a Regional Ombudsman for People Deprived of Personal Liberty (il Garante regionale delle persone private della libertà personale).
Instead of exploring alternatives, such as “case management”, which is recognized as much more effective by numerous organizations at both the international and national levels, the current government has chosen to adopt absurd measures, further supporting the CPR logic. The Cutro Decree (Decreto Cutro) and its implementing decree of September 14th 2023 represent a bone-chilling choice because they have extended the grounds for detaining asylum seekers, especially when they cannot provide a financial guarantee of 4,938 euros. In the same September decision, the government also extended the maximum detention period in the CPRs to 18 months. A year and a half in limbo, even though the statistics from the National Ombudsman for Detainees (Garante nazionale dei detenuti) clearly show that if expulsion cannot be executed near the beginning of the detention, it is practically impossible to do so later. This is because repatriation is successful only when there is an agreement with the country of origin, and currently, such agreements are few and far between.
Looking at the overall numbers of repatriations compared to detentions, it’s evident that CPRs are ineffective despite the substantial costs to taxpayers. Not even half of the foreigners passing through these facilities are successfully repatriated. So, who doesn’t get repatriated? After the maximum detention period or when there is no reasonable prospect of removal, an expulsion order is issued by the questore. This is a legal loophole through which, in practice, the foreigner is ordered to self-deport. Non-compliance is a crime, and the most likely outcome since, if they had not done so voluntarily before, it’s difficult to imagine they will respond diligently to the warning. Sooner or later, they will likely be intercepted again, possibly ending up back in a CPR, where once again they won’t be successfully deported.