First asylum detention centre in Pozzallo - Piantedosi

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 23 - The first detention centre for asylum seekers from so-called 'safe countries' is to be set up in the southern Sicilian port city of Pozzallo starting from Sunday, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Saturday.
    "As part of the implementation of a European directive, tomorrow we will launch in Pozzallo, in the province of Ragusa, the first facility for detaining asylum seekers from safe countries such as Tunisia, to ensure that procedures to ascertain the existence of the conditions for refugee status can be carried out quickly, within a month," said Piantedosi.
    Provisions for detaining asylum seekers from so-called safe countries of origin for the duration of an accelerated asylum procedure in order to facilitate their return in the event of a negative outcome are set out in the Cutro decree, which was converted into law by parliament in May.
    Italy currently considers 16 countries to be safe: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Erzegovina, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Senegal, Serbia and Tunisia.
    On the government plans to create new pre-removal detention centres (CPR) for irregular migrants awaiting repatriation, Piantedosi confirmed that the idea is to have a facility in every region.
    "For now, however, there are only some hypotheses" on specific locations, the minister said.
    Italy currently has 10 CPR with a total of around 1,100 places in Bari, Brindisi, Caltanissetta, Gradisca d'Isonzo (GO), Macomer (NU) Milan, Palazzo San Gervasio (PZ), Rome, Turin, Trapani. (ANSA).