Laundry hung on the railings of the Maritime Station offices, people looking for a place to sleep, and constant attempts to enter the embarkation area without authorization. With the arrival of more young Algerian nationals from the Monastir Reception Centre (CAS), the port of Olbia has become a humanitarian emergency.

And the pressure from the south continues to increase: today alone, approximately sixty new migrants arrived on the Sulcis coast. All were intercepted by patrol boats before reaching land, and after health checks, they were transferred to the Cagliari Prefecture's competent center. Overcrowding is now chronic, and from there, the daily journeys to Olbia continue.

State Police personnel, particularly those at the Olbia Police Station and the very few Border Police officers, are struggling to convince dozens of people not to approach the boarding area. International protection seekers show the Cagliari Police Headquarters' orders and demand explanations. In theory, if they don't leave Sardinia within a week, and then permanently leave the country, they could be reported for failure to comply with an order from the authorities.

There are cancer patients and a young man complaining of leg pain. The message from the shipping companies is clear: the National Maritime Safety Program applies; without documents, no one can board. The Municipality of Olbia is evaluating measures to provide food and water to migrants.

Massimiliano Pala, provincial secretary of the SIULP police union, says: "We can't wait for someone to get hurt before admitting that the situation has become unsustainable. We said it in September, and we reiterate it today, with even greater determination: it's not enough to order people to leave if you're then unable to manage the conditions necessary to do so. And we can't expect police officers, with limited resources and difficult operating conditions, to always resolve the contradictions of a system that instead requires a coordinated institutional response. The time for stopgap interventions must end."

The COISP union is also addressing the Isola Bianca case. Marco Porcu, its regional secretary, says: "In Sardinia, complying with expulsion orders for foreigners without identity documents is impossible because there are no diplomatic representations from North African countries and no direct connections with those countries. Until now, the limited number of people in this situation has meant that the problem has remained dormant."

Andrea Busia
(Fabio Murru collaborated)

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