Turin's CIE - International University College of Turin

VII. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN DETAINEES
1. INAPPROPRIATE MIX - GROUPING PEOPLE COMING FROM JAIL AND
ASYLUM SEEKERS, YOUNG AND VULNERABLE PEOPLE
In Turin’s CIE, all detainees of the same gender are grouped together, regardless of age,
language or whether they are ex-prisoners or asylum seekers escaping trauma and conflict 96 .
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s
Committee on Parliamentary, Judicial and Human Rights Questions have advised governments
that it is important that “recognition of physical and psychological traumas many asylum
seekers have experienced, should be taken into account when considering any restrictions on
their freedom of movement” 97 . Yet, for asylum seekers in Turin’s CIE: “The culture inside CIE is
similar to the culture of a jail. You often find the same dynamics both in jail and in CIE. There is no
attention on dividing those who come from jail from those who have never had any contact with
jail” (Interview 28). Another lawyer defined the mixed nature of CIE as one of the main problems
about how CIE is structured: “There are no divisions based on cultural zones of arrival, or in
relation to ex-offenders. This creates some vulnerability and the construction of hierarchies in
different areas. If we place an individual victim of trafficking with an asylum seeker in a mixed
area, these people will potentially be subjected to further abuse” (Interview 5).
2. ETHNIC OR CULTURAL ISSUES AND TENSIONS
Detainees live under immense stress since there is a constant overhanging uncertainty about
how long they will remain in detention and what country they will live in once free. There were
very mixed perspectives about relationships between detainees. An evaluation of relationships
between detainees must consider the pressure of sharing a cell with up to six other people with
very limited personal space or activities:
“Living together is not easy. Sometimes everything is fine, sometimes someone loses his
temper because of this situation. Sometimes it becomes unbearable and you go out of your
mind. So there may be tensions and fights. But you should be clever enough to understand
the other people and to avoid fights among each other” (Interview 20).
The restrictive CIE environment can exacerbate tensions: “there have been some fights over food”
(Interview 11). Moreover, there is a diverse cultural, linguistic and religious mix in this
constrained physical space:
“Relationships are difficult. Usually people who come from one country are together
because of nationality, religion, etc. There can be problems with people coming from other
countries. But if they [detainees] are kept in different sections, they [the problems] are
limited. Probably, there are quarrels because there are so many people inside”
(Interview 7);
“Well, between the detainees, yes. I saw one or two who were Moroccans, they had fought a
day before. And also another time, a Senegalese had a fight with a Moroccan. One or two
96 “Detainees are all together: young boys coming from Lampedusa with former convicts with asylum seekers.
They are only more or less divided in different rooms according to their nationality, that’s all” (Interview 2).
97 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Committee on
Parliamentary, Judicial and Human Rights Questions, Refugee Protection: A Guide to International Refugee
Law (2001), 81.
56 | P a g e