The debate over establishing a repatriation detention center, CPR, in the traditionally left-wing region of Emilia- Romagna has unsettled the ranks of the center-left coalition.

Regional President Michele de Pascale expressed willingness to consider the proposal, and then faced strong resistance from regional allies and from the Municipality of Bologna.

In recent years, the government has repeatedly announced plans to open such a facility in the city, consistently drawing criticism from the Democratic Party-led local administration.

As tensions rise between the regional president and the municipality, the regional branch of the Democratic Party (PD) has so far declined to comment, choosing to remain silent amid the controversy.

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The debate was reignited in recent days by de Pascale himself

"If the State were to ask the Region to sit at a table to cooperate, including to understand how to make expulsions of socially dangerous individuals more effective, I would sit down," he said, returning to the issue of security.

Staying on the same topic, the president challenged his own political camp, arguing that the center-left must demonstrate "effective solutions" rather than leaving the ground entirely to the right.

In this framework, he said, "CPRs must be exclusive tools for the expulsion of socially dangerous individuals."

On February 11, de Pascale again raised the issue, stating that the debate on CPRs must start from the premise that "the expulsion system does not work." As a result, discussion on the usefulness of such facilities in Emilia-Romagna could remain an option on the table, in his view.

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Bologna councilor: 'Places where rights are absent'

The idea of opening such a center, however, met immediate opposition from the Municipality of Bologna. Security councilor Matilde Madrid rejected the proposal, saying: "There are already many CPRs in Italy and hundreds of empty places; the focus should be on making procedures work rather than opening new facilities."

For Madrid, the debate is "very old", and concerns places where "the issue of rights is completely absent."

The same line was taken by a green-left allliance of parties Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra in Emilia- Romagna, which described the proposal as a mistaken "form of legitimization of structures that deny fundamental rights."

The Five Star Movement in the regional council also opposed the move, with councilor Lorenzo Casadei calling CPRs a "false security solution" that merely fuels "social tensions."

Representatives from the trade union CGIL Emilia-Romagna have also taken a firm stand against the proposal, arguing that such facilities are "oppressive for both residents and workers" and, given their high costs, "ineffective" due to the low number of actual repatriations.

Meanwhile, Brothers of Italy, through its regional group leader Marta Evangelisti, has called for clarity, asking whether talks with the government have already begun. "It is essential that the regional executive inform citizens about what it intends to do," she said.

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