Temporary Detention Centre (TDC) Report

Acknowledgements

The system of TDCs has been set up in 1998 by law n.40 and confirmed by the new law on immigration n.189 in 2002. The system, as thought in 1998, has been mainly confirmed except for the detention period which has been extended from 30 to a maximum of 60 days.

The temporary detention system has been set up in order to allow Italian authorities to repatriate those foreign citizens (extra EU) caught by police forces in the state-territory because not legally present in Italy. Foreign citizens detained in such centres can spend up to 60 days in detention; such period is needed by Italian authorities to identify the person through his/her diplomatic authorities in Italy and issuing the necessary documents in order to proceed to the repatriation.

The extension of the detention period is not the only modification introduced by law n.189. In fact, under the provisions of law n.40 foreign citizens in temporary detention centres were mainly issued an invitation to leave the country within 15 days; instead, an order to leave the country was issued to a limited number of cases related to public order and state security reasons. On the other hand, under the provisions of law 189, the order to leave the country has become the main option.

General objective

MSF-Mission Italie (MI) has been monitoring the condition of assistance, reception and respect of rights in those centres territorially close to Mission Italie projects, namely Puglia and consequently Sicily. After almost three years of monitoring activity, MI felt the need to have a closer and more in-depth look at the detention system for foreigners as a whole. Therefore, Mission Italie decided, during summer 2003, to undertake an evaluation report of TDC system mainly focusing on:

• Structural conditions;

• Health assistance;
• Respect of rights and procedures;
• Garments, food, interpretation, social and psychological counselling supply;
• Respect of asylum procedures;
• Management;

The main task of the report is, therefore, to draw a picture of detention system for foreigners in Italy that could allow MSF to have a clearer view of:

• what level of health care is provided to detainees;
• what possible infringements of the law in terms of repatriation, detention and asylum procedures;
• which level and quality of reception is granted to detainees;
• what level of skills is hold by the organisations managing the centres;

MSF is the first independent organisation that was authorised, by Ministry of Interior, to enter all TDCs and undertake such a comprehensively evaluation study on the system.

General findings

The report do not aim at providing recommendations but rather conclusion that we report here below:

• TDC system is now working as an informal extension of penal detention since, on average, 60/70% of the population is actually coming from state prisons;
• In some centres health assistance can be considered of a good level but in many others the level of professionalism is very low;
• Some centres revealed an excessive use of psycho-thropic drugs;
• No one of the centres has any relations with local SERT or DSM;
• Procedures, in particular asylum, are breached on a regular basis;
• Police forces hold a excessive power and non competent role in the running of the centres;
• The number and level of acts of self inflicting harm among detainees disclose an unbearable situation within the centres;
• Legal counselling is mainly provided by non-professional operators provided by the centre managing organisation rather then by an independent and external actor;
• Cultural mediation/interpretation is supplied with very low quality in terms of staff and time availability. Often such service is supplied only for hearings with the judge;
• Chart of rights and duties is provided to the detainees, in an understandable language, just is some centres;
• MSF will ask the closing of 3 centres, namely Lametia Terme, Trapani, and Turin;
• No common procedures of management is foreseen;
• The allocation of funds differs from centre to centre;