Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the suicide of a Guinean asylum seeker who spent months in detention, legal sources said on Monday.
Usman Sila, 22, hanged himself at a migrant center near Rome on Sunday.
“If I die, I want my body returned to Africa,” he wrote on the wall in French.
According to sources, prosecutors have launched an investigation into the possibility of “inciting suicide” and ordered an autopsy.
NGOs have been highly critical of Italy’s asylum centers.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
Following this tragic death, other migrants at the center set mattresses on fire and threw objects at bailiffs.
Police said 14 people from Morocco, Cuba, Chile, Senegal, Tunisia, Niger and Gambia were arrested during the day-long standoff.
Riccardo Magi, general secretary of the center-left +Europe party, described the center as a “hell” where migrants are deprived of their freedom in “inhumane conditions”.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
+Europe on Monday joined the Democratic Party and the Green Party-Left Alliance in calling for the closure of immigration centers.
“The Italian detention system is collapsing,” Maggi said.
Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who took office in October 2022, had promised to stop migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean Sea and reaching Europe.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
But around 158,000 people reached Italian shores last year, up from 105,131 in 2022.
Rome recently signed a controversial agreement with Tirana to establish a migrant reception center in Albania, to be managed and financed by Italy.
In December, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic condemned the deal and recommended that Italy “prioritize improving its internal asylum system.”
gab/cmk/ybl/spb/bc