Italy’s foreign minister said Wednesday that Rome will “do everything [it] can” to stop Italians being transferred to Guantanamo Bay, amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to send thousands of undocumented migrants to the notorious prison camp.
Around 9,000 people could be transported to a migrant detention center at the American naval base on the Cuban coast, including 800 Europeans and at least two Italians, according to leaked documents seen by POLITICO, reported Tuesday.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also said he would phone U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday to “try to get further clarifications.” He called for the situation not to be “dramatized,” as Italy had already told the U.S. it was willing to take back its citizens and the Guantanamo facility was only for citizens of countries that “do not accept repatriations.”
“So there should be no possibility for Italians to be taken to Guantanamo,” Tajani told Italian radio broadcaster RTL.
“We will do everything we can to ensure that no Italians are taken to Guantanamo,” he added. “This is the situation at the moment.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt wrote on X on Wednesday that the reports are “fake news” and “not happening,” but the White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment prior to publication. When asked if the plans are on hold or have been withdrawn, the Trump administration declined to comment beyond the X post.
U.S. State Department officials who deal with Europe have been urging the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees deportations, not to send Europeans to Guantanamo, given most European countries take their citizens back without a problem and many are stalwart U.S. allies. The Trump administration’s plan is to send migrants to the camp temporarily, before they are eventually deported to their home countries.
The U.S. opened a detention camp at its naval base on Guantanamo Bay to hold terrorism suspects after the 9/11 attacks. It is the site of numerous human rights abuses and “unparalleled notoriety,” according to United Nations experts. Since February, the Trump administration has been using it to hold hundreds of migrants it aims to deport.
Among the 800 Europeans being considered for transferral to Guantanamo are 100 Romanians, according to the leaked documents. The Romanian Embassy in Washington said it was “in constant contact” with the American authorities on the matter, telling local media it was aware of 47 Romanians in U.S. migrant detention facilities but “their transportation to the Guantanamo naval base is not being considered.”
The transfers to Guantanamo could start this week, the leaked documents state.
Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.
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