Hamid Badoui, a 42-year-old Moroccan, ended his life in the Lorusso e Cutugno prison in Turin, Italy. The incident occurred in the "new arrivals" section just hours before he was due to appear in court.
"Better prison than the CPR (Permanent Repatriation Center) in Albania, I'm not going back," he is said to have told the lawyer.
Badoui's story unfolds an ordeal of unsuccessful attempts by an immigrant who was not given the opportunity to integrate into Italy as a citizen with rights to work and a decent life.
The 42-year-old was initially detained at the Bari CPR. He was then transferred to the Gjadri camp in Albania, where he stayed for about five weeks.
It is not clear what procedure led to his return to Italy, but Badoui had faced charges of resisting authorities after a clash with fellow countrymen in a tobacco shop. He committed suicide with his shoelaces.
On May 31, Albanian activists and citizens honored his memory outside the refugee camp in Lezha, with banners reading: "Overthrow Rama and Meloni", "Freedom for immigrants", "Burn all borders".
During her speech before the camp, activist Kristina Millona paralleled Gjadri with Guantanamo, "a torture center that produces suffering and death, where the only escape seems to be self-harm." Photos of Badoui were also posted outside the port of Shëngjin, as a symbol of preventing this history from being repeated out of oblivion.
According to Millona, monitor reports speak of over 40 incidents in the first month of Gjadri's operation alone: self-harm, degrading conditions, lack of information and no legal guarantees.
Activists demanded an investigation to find those responsible for Badoui's suicide, a halt to transfers to Albania, the release of stranded migrants, and the launch of an independent investigation into alleged violations.
"To still support the 'Albania model' means to be complicit in a regime of detention and exclusion that produces suffering, exclusion and death," Amnesty International reacted.
Member of the European Parliament, Anna Strolenberg, after a visit to Gjadra, said that "The migrants didn't even know what month it was, many are under the influence of medication. It's not clear how many of them are being held."
On June 9, Italy's Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the legality of deportations to Albania – a decision that could change the fate of many migrants.
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
