In relation to a migrant repatriation center in the city of Bologna, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has said he is "very willing" to speak to local administrations. He added that he was, "as is my duty, active across all national territory because this is essentially part of the DNA that an interior minister must have. However, here in Bologna and [the region of] Emilia-Romagna, I am especially so because it is sort of my city."

However, he stressed, "there needs to be clarity on the objectives."

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Minister 'shocked by resentful statements'

Speaking on March 7 from the stage of a meeting entitled "Io Voto Sì. La Riforma Che Fa Giustizia' at the Savoia Regency hotel in Bologna, Piantedosi stressed that "security terms should not be thrown around whenever there is a desire to make unspecified accusations about the government, and then after that there is a lack of interest in resolutions for the main problems," as he said the town council had.

Piantedosi noted that the proposal to create a repatriation center (CPR) in Bologna was made by local administrations after the killing of train ticket inspector Alessandro Ambrosio "by a foreigner who had not been deported, repatriated."

"Faced with the proposal of strengthening territorial outposts for the repatriation of foreigners -- also for example by creating a repatriation center -- a series of resentful statements were made in front of which I am a bit shocked because I do not understand where they came from," the minister said.

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'CPR useful across all Italy, no focus on Bologna'

Piantedosi noted that, in a city in which "48 percent of the crimes are committed by foreigners compared with a national average of 35 percent," -- in reference to Bologna -- his proposal had been to create a "CPR in which to keep these people and facilitate deportation procedures".

The minister added that the creation of the CPR, in any case, will occur in parallel with dialogue with the regional president, "not so much because it is the part that gave the impetus for the opening as because it is required by law."

"CPRs are useful across all of Italy, and thus also here in Bologna. There is no particular focus on Bologna, or a particular idea about Bologna," he continued, adding that "everywhere there is the desire to control public security mechanisms."

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