The number of deportations is falling, but costs and the length of detention in CPRs are rising

At least 217.1 million euros. That is how much was spent on the prison system – including detention centres for asylum seekers undergoing border procedures (CTRA) – between 2018 and 2025. Within this timeframe, 66.2 per cent of total expenditure is concentrated in the three-year period 2023–2025. Taking only facilities on Italian territory into account, the money spent between 2023 and 2025 on management and routine maintenance has increased by 45.7 per cent.

If one includes the one-off investments in Albania, the total detention cost per repatriation from the centres has risen by around 10,000 euros over the three-year period 2023–2025 – rising from around 6,455 euros to 16,560 euros. The cost of detention to carry out a return from the CPRs has risen by over 7,000 euros – from 4,265 to 11,855 euros – taking into account only the expenditure on the day-to-day running and maintenance of the facilities.

The report compares the total number of days spent in detention centres with the number of deportations carried out from them, in order to measure the degree of coercion associated with each deportation. Each return is achieved through an increasing deprivation of liberty: whilst between 2018 and 2024 migrants spent between 62 and 84 days in the centres, by 2025 this period rises to 148 days – almost double. This is confirmed by the 2,000 people detained between 2018 and 2024 despite there being no concrete prospects of removal – due to the lack of effective readmission channels with their countries of origin.

Not to mention the conditions in which migrants are forced to live within the CPRs: between 2024 and 2026, the ‘Trattenuti’ platform documented at least five deaths of detainees; as well as attempts at suicide, self-harm, hunger strikes, riots and arson.

Over the 10-year period analysed in the report, out of 302,000 removal orders, there were a total of 66,000 repatriations. This figure includes all types of repatriation: those carried out by force, the independent returns of expelled individuals, and assisted voluntary repatriations – which are not limited to undocumented migrants and include reintegration measures. This equates, therefore, to 22 returns per 100 removal orders and 9 per 100 from the CPRs. A significant shortcoming emerges: detention – by law – is an exceptional measure and is permissible only if it serves the purpose of return. Yet the repatriation rate remains distinctly low.

Then there is the issue of nationality: the Italian repatriation system is fragile and costly because it is dependent on cooperative relationships with destination countries – which are not particularly stable. Again in the period 2018–2024, the ratio of repatriations carried out to measures adopted ranges from 54.8 per cent for Albania to figures close to zero for Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Another country with one of the highest rates of forced repatriations is Tunisia, which alone accounts for around half of the total recorded in the three-year period 2022–2024.

The report by ‘ActionAid’ and ‘UniBari’ paints a picture of a fragile repatriation system: periods of detention, coercion and costs are on the rise; the number of successful repatriations and the effectiveness of the CPRs are declining. All of this takes place against a backdrop characterised by a lack of transparency on the part of the competent authorities.