Dozens of foreign citizens are being held at Olbia's Isola Bianca port , ordered to leave Italy behind and issued with a ticket they can't use . This is the picture depicted by the SIULP of Sassari in a statement in which the police union calls for immediate intervention by the authorities to resolve a situation "that requires careful consideration not only in terms of managing migration flows, but also and above all in terms of public order and safety."
In recent weeks, SIULP specifies, " several groups of Algerian citizens have arrived independently on the coast of Sulcis-Iglesiente , aboard small boats, and were subsequently intercepted by the competent authorities and escorted to the Monastir center, where the required identification activities and further administrative procedures are carried out." It is precisely in the next phase that " a clear operational criticality emerges ," the union continues. "Following the investigations and the adoption of measures required by immigration law, the foreigner may be subject to a measure requiring removal from the national territory within a certain timeframe." And this is precisely where the problems begin. " The foreign citizens, after being subject to the measures required by law, in many cases reach Olbia, evidently because they intend to use the maritime connections to the mainland to leave Sardinia and, subsequently, reach their country of destination or origin, or other European states." So " they purchase the travel ticket at the ticket offices at Porto Isola Bianca, but subsequently, as has been discovered in recent events, they are denied boarding due to problems related to identification and travel documentation."
The result is a prolonged stay at the port with episodes of protest and strong tension that have already occurred.
" How can a removal order be effectively enforced if the recipient does not have the necessary documentation and operational tools to actually leave the island ?" is the question posed by the union. A paradox that, according to the SIULP, risks being entirely passed on to the last link in the chain: the operators of the Air and Maritime Border Police and the Olbia Public Security Commissioner's Office, already engaged in routine territorial control services in a context of high security demand.
" The police officer cannot act as a buffer between an inadequately coordinated administrative procedure and the anger of those suddenly unable to leave," warns Massimiliano Pala, provincial secretary of the SIULP in Sassari. " We're not talking about an isolated incident, but a dynamic that risks becoming more entrenched ."
The request addressed to the institutions is therefore for a unified and defined operating procedure that covers the entire process, from the adoption of the measure to its actual implementation, with prior verification of the documentary requirements, clear responsibilities, and timely alternative solutions when the planned connection is unusable.
"What we're asking for," Pala concludes, "is not a militarization of the port, nor is it simply a temporary increase in the number of men in uniform. We're asking the state to fully take responsibility for its own decisions. You can't leave a person free on the territory with orders to leave, and then allow a series of administrative and documentation obstacles to cause that same person to remain stranded in the very place where they should actually leave Italy."
(Unioneonline)