EU 013, l’ultima frontiera EU-2014

For the first time, the Italian authorities allowed a film crew into the Centres for Identification and Expulsion: selection centres for refugees. Genovese shows European asylum policy as a carousel of hope and frustration, in which refugees are spun around until madness ensues.

Aliens in Italy can be held up to 18 months in a CIE, a Centro di Identificazione ed Espulsione (Identification and Deportation Centre), before they are admitted or deported. The Italian photographer/documentary maker Alessio Genovese was the first person to get permission to take a look inside the walls. He interviews both the guards and the men and women who have to spend long months behind locked doors. None of them has committed a crime or has been sentenced. They are known as ‚guests‘ in CIE jargon. Most of them grew up in Italy. After forced deportation, they roamed Europe but have to return to Italy as soon as they are arrested, after which the process starts all over again.
Even viewers are brought to their knees by the stories and the administrative hell in which these people find themselves, so you can guess how the guests and guards feel. And that’s how the international refugee merry-go-round keeps turning. It has turned into an industry.