The monumental disorder continues between the government of Pedro Sánchez and Emiliano García-Page over the controversial project – and it seems that until now hidden – to build a reception center for migrants in the abandoned Ciudad Real airport. This kind of place of shame, militarized behind bars, Georgia Meloni’s far-right government was raised in Albania to internal migrants who arrive on Italian shores fleeing war and poverty; places that quickly seduced Europe, as authority figures like Von der Leyen showed.
Even if this Tuesday the Castilian-Manchego government led by Page showed a firm rejection of the implementation of what They have already defined it as a “concentration camp” for migrantsa few hours later, the regional president himself was even more direct, declaring that This is an “illegal” project.also denouncing that no one informed him of his possible development in Ciudad Real. This is what he expressed in statements made to Cadena COPE, where he did not hesitate to file a complaint against Sánchez.
“They wanted to hide a ‘Meloni center’ from us in the middle of ‘Mancha’, in the cargo hangars of an airport.”
“We are accustomed to the fact that things can be approved by force and by circumventing the regulations in force”, Page disfigured the central executive, warning that he learned “through the press” that on October 1 “a meeting took place where the government Delegation and they have already started to consider this option An approach that did not please him at all: “It seems to me that these are not shapes, it is not intelligent. “How is it possible that I had a meeting with the president of the government and they want to do this behind our backs, without talking to us.”
He was even tougher later, during a public intervention in which he pointed the finger at Sánchez and his team seriously and without qualms. confronted with the “most blatant case of disloyalty” in institutional terms: “They wanted to hide a ‘Meloni center’ from us in the middle of the ‘Channel’, in the cargo hangars of an airport […] (the central government and businesses) exchanging draft contracts behind the back of this competent administration in matters of health, social services and so many things on the territory.
Likewise, he insisted on the principle that no one wanted to contact them, whatever the coalition executive said. Page’s accusations directly clash with the position supported so far by the Sánchez government, clearly “against the creation of centers in the countries“This was stated by the spokesperson of the Executive, Pilar Alegría, who said that the Spanish administration would continue to “defend the immigration and asylum pact in Europe” and would oppose “ to this mafia which traffics these people”.
Shame centers in Europe
To understand the political crisis that seems to be looming between Sánchez and Page – we must not forget that in addition to being presidents, they are party colleagues – we need to know what these expulsion centers proposed by Meloni and how they work, which cause real fury not only among the most conservative and reactionary sectors –and not so leaning to the right– from Europe.
From this internment space that Italy built in a town in northwest Albania – a country which, let us remember, is outside the European Union – we can affirm that it it is a closed establishment, heavily militarized and strictly controlled. A building surrounded by high walls monitored by drones, made up of prefabricated modules. There, the rooms are replaced by wire-mesh barracks, revealing a scenario closer to that of a prison than that of a reception center for migrants.
In this specific action protocol, migrants arriving in Italy will first go to a center in Shengjin, next to the Albanian port and with a capacity of 200 people. There, they will be identified and then transferred to another center, in Gjader. It is much larger, with a capacity of 800 migrants, but could accommodate 3,000 people. Only non-vulnerable men will be accommodated here, according to Italy. This repressive image is not only despised by the entire European bloc, but some already see it favorably.
That same Tuesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced its interest in “exploring possible avenues” for the creation of the expulsion of irregular migrants from Community territory while their cases are resolved in the Union – an option which has however already been excluded in the past by Brussels due to conflict with the rights of applicants ‘asylum. This did not prevent Von der Leyen from projects described as “innovative” like the one proposed by the far-right Melonito which he directly referred: “With the start of protocol operations between Italy and Albania, we will be able to learn from this experience in practice.
