Turin's CIE - International University College of Turin

consequence of EU Directive 2008/115/EC, which states that the maximum period for preremoval
detention in the European Union is eighteen months.
2. CONTEXTUALISING DAY-TO-DAY ISSUES
A year and a half is an extremely long time for a person to live in detention due to the
administrative procedure of identification and expulsion:
“The worst problem is having to stay here for seven or eight months because after one or
two months here it becomes really like a detention for criminal matters. Almost like a
kidnapping. We are now talking about staying for nine or ten months and you never know
if things are going to change. The fear that we will have is to wait for one and a half years,
and in that case it would really be detention for criminal matters. This is kidnapping of a
person, because we did not commit a crime. We are here against our will” (Interview 20).
Moreover, the day-to-day conditions of detention can raise questions about whether human
dignity and other fundamental rights are being ensured, especially if the CIE is not able to cope
with its purpose 60 , or if the administration is not able to create decent and non-degrading
conditions within the CIE.
The day-to-day issues in Turin’s CIE could become a matter of real concern. During our research
we have faced several problems that were expressed by detainees, lawyers, religious personnel
and other professionals. We conducted interviews with detainees from different sections of the
CIE and in some of the sections certain day-to-day issues listed below appear to be worse than
in other sections. Furthermore, day-to-day issues are often overlapping and they need to be
understood in the context of a detainee who lives for months in a cell with up to six other people
who they did not previously know, and with very little personal autonomy to make the everyday
decisions that most of us take for granted.
3. SPACE
“This is a big cage that we cannot get out of.”
- Interview 21
It is arguable whether there is enough space inside Turin’s CIE. There was a difference in how
the interviewed detainees perceived the space that they live in, in comparison to how other
interviewees who are not detained tended to judge the situation:
“Turin’s CIE consists of seven areas, named with different colours: the Green Area is the
female area, then there is the Blue Area, the Yellow Area, the Red Area, the White Area, and
so on. Between the areas there is a corridor. In each area there are five sleeping quarters.
In each room there are six beds - true beds, not cement beds [and] quite often there are
bunk beds. At the end of the room there is a toilet, a shower and a basin. There is no
cupboard. Inside each room there is heating and air conditioning, if they are working.
Inside each area, opposite to the rooms there is another building: the refectory. Here there
are tables and benches, but in many areas they have been destroyed by the detainees
Law Decree 89/2011, “Urgent provisions to complete the implementation of EU Directive 2004/38/EC on free
movement of EU citizens and the transposition of Directive 2008/115/EC on the removal of irregular third
country nationals” (GU n. 144 of 23-6-2011).
60 See Part D. Other Matters, Chapter XIII. Figures and Costs.
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