Immigrants sew mouths shuit at Italy migrant center

Two migrants at an Italian detention center in the capital, Rome, have sewn their lips together in protest against the conditions at the facility.

Italian media reported on Monday that the two detained migrants, who are from Algeria and Tunisia, have stitched their mouths closed with wire in protest against the conditions at Ponte Galeria Center for Identification and Expulsion (Cie) on the outskirts of Rome.

The two migrants reportedly wanted to attract media attention to the lengthy stays at the so-called Identification and Expulsion centers.

The Algerian migrant has been held at the detention center since June 3 and received a 30-day extension by a judge on Monday. This is while the Tunisian migrant is waiting for his case to be heard by a judge scheduled for the end of August.

The Tunisian migrant was held at the Cie facility earlier this year, when he staged a hunger strike in May in protest against the conditions of the detention center and the long waiting times.

Both detainees are undocumented migrants waiting for deportation from Italy.

Luigi Manconi, the country’s president for the Commission of Human Rights, commented on the incident, calling for the closure of Identification and Expulsion centers in Italy.

This is while Italian member of parliament Khalid Chaouki has likened the conditions at the Cie facility to those at the US-run Guantanamo, where suspects have been held for years without trial.

The move by the two migrants follow a similar protest last December, when thirteen Moroccan immigrants sewed their mouths shut in protest against their lengthy detention.

Immigrants said at the time that they feel like they are treated as animals at detention centers; and migrant associations blamed the Italian government for the poor living conditions in the facilities.