A 22-year-old man from Guinea committed suicide on February 3 at a pre-removal center (CPR) in Ponte Galeria, located on the outskirts of Rome.

"If I were to die, I would like my body to be taken to Africa, my mother would be happy," he wrote in French on a wall of the center, probably with a cigarette butt.

His words reveal the desperation of a betrayed dream -- one for a better life. The reality -- a detention of several months -- had become unbearable for the young migrant.

'I miss Africa a lot and my mother too, she must not cry'

"Italian soldiers don't understand anything, apart from money," the young migrant wrote in his farewell message. "I miss Africa a lot, and my mother as well, she must not cry for me. Peace to my soul, may I rest in peace."

The suicide led to riots among the facility's guests. Two Carabinieri police officers and a soldier were wounded.

Stones were thrown at staff by migrant residents who also tried to set a car on fire and break through a door. Police used tear gas to control the riot.

Controversy over CPRs

Members of the opposition called for the shutdown of the CPR, which has long been at the center of a political controversy due to its poor condition.

A different protest was held on February 3 at another Italian CPR located in Gradisca d'Isonzo near the northeastern city of Gorizia, where a migrant fell from a roof and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Two weeks ago, another center, located in Milo near the Sicilian city of Trapani, was severely damaged by migrant inmates.

Meanwhile, two other pre-removal facilities in Milan and Palazzo San Gervasio, near Potenza, are at the center of investigations.

Last year, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced a plan to create a CPR in each region, but the list of locations was never announced.

"There is no need to wait for investigations to be able to say that places like Ponte Galeria are totally inhuman," said the ombudsman of detainees in Rome, Valentina Calderone, who visited the facility in the morning of Sunday, February 4, with lawmakers Cecilia D'Elia of the opposition Democratic Party (PD) and Riccardo Magi of +Europa.

"We are all shocked by the boy's death," commented D'Elia.

"Ponte Galeria must be closed. We had already visited it at the end of July and had denounced the terrible conditions. The episode of this young man who committed suicide must put the word end to this CPR," he added.

Magi defined the centres as "black holes of the law and of humanity" and noted that the youth "had arrived a few days ago from the centre of Trapani, where he had stayed since mid-October."

On Friday, a few operators had seen him desperate.

He was crying, they said, saying he wanted to go back to his country because he needed to take care of two young brothers there who would otherwise starve.

The man was heartbroken and desperate, the operators said. He left a self-portrait on the wall, writing underneath that he couldn't resist anymore and hoped his soul would rest in peace,