An Economist Walks Into a Refugee Detention Center

Tomorrow I’m flying to the remote Italian island of Lampedusa with the students from my Immigration class at the University of Palermo. Lampedusa has long been famous as a tourist destination, perfect for snorkeling. Over the last ten years, however, the Italian government has turned Lampedusa into a massive refugee detention center. Wikipedia explains:

In 2009, the overcrowded conditions at the island's temporary immigrant reception centre came under criticism by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The unit, which was originally built for a maximum capacity of 850 people, was reported to be housing nearly 2,000 boat people. A significant number of people were sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting. A fire that started during an inmate riot destroyed a large portion of the holding facility on 19 February 2009.

In 2011, many more immigrants moved to Lampedusa during the rebellions in Tunisia and Libya. By May 2011, more than 35,000 immigrants had arrived on the island from Tunisia and Libya. By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived. Most were young males in their 20s and 30s. The situation has caused division within the EU, the French government regarding most of the arrivals as economic migrants rather than refugees in fear of persecution. Italy has repeatedly requested aid from the EU in managing refugees, but has been turned down.

The article adds:

In July 2013, Pope Francis visited the island on his first official visit outside of Rome. He prayed for migrants, living and dead, and denounced their traffickers.

You’d hope he would denounce EU immigration restrictions, but no such luck.

Confession: Though my critics have often taunted me to do so, I have never before visited a detention center. Since I strive to form my views unemotionally, I severely doubt that this visit will make me noticeably more or less supportive of open borders. To be blunt, I normally classify people who radically change their minds because of a personal experience as “weak-minded.”

Still, I expect to learn a lot of new details. If there’s anything to want me to ask the refugees, residents, or authorities while I’m on Lampedusa, please share your request in the comments. When I return, I’ll share what I learned.

Update: My Lampedusa trip has been cancelled, but we’ll be meeting with migrants and aid workers here in Palermo instead. Please put questions you’d like me to ask them in the comments.