Migeurop: European borders – Controls, detention and deportations

2009/2010 Report

Abbiamo fermato l’invasione: “We have stopped the invasion”, a Northern League poster boasted in March 2010 before the regional elections in Italy. The press could rejoice about seeing “Lampedusa returned to the fishermen”, since the identification and expulsion centre on the island, which had seen over 30,000 “illegals” disembark in 2008, and still 1,220 in February 2009, was henceforth empty since October. In turn, the Italian government was trumpeting the fact that, against “illegal” immigration, firmness had ended up paying off. (pdf at migreurop.org)