A Nigerian citizen, unable to afford a plane ticket, arranged for his own arrest in order to obtain an expulsion order and return home to his family. The incident, reported by the Italian newspaper La Prealpina, concerns a 36-year-old immigrant who held a temporary residence permit and was living in the Varese area.
The man sends the majority of his monthly income—derived from a Naspi unemployment benefit he receives after a long period working in a Varese factory—back home to Africa. His greatest wish was to return to his home country. Having no means to pay for a return flight, he devised an alternative plan. On Friday, at the Varese railway station, he smoked a joint in front of officers from the Polfer railway police to attract their attention. When he was subsequently searched, they found 150 grams of hashish on him.
He was subsequently arrested. When he appeared before a judge for a custody hearing yesterday, he was told his sentence would be converted into an expulsion. “Excellent,” he was reported to have said, “I made it!” He had already attempted to get himself repatriated last March by pretending to have a violent outburst on a train to get arrested.