Historical Introduction
In 1911, the Italian liberal government launched the colonial invasion of what is now known as Libya. Italy’s response to local resistance was largely unprecedented in the history of European colonialism: thousands of people, including children, women and elderly people, were deported to the metropole. While imprisonment and confinement were routine policies under European colonial rule, the deportation of individuals from the colony to the metropole was rare. Yet, Italy deported thousands of people from its colonies in Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. Deportations from Libya were the most numerous and systematic. Throughout the 1910s, thousands of deportees were taken from Libya to over 20 Italian locations. The majority of them were sent to the Southern Italian islands of Ustica, the Tremiti archipleago, Ponza, and Favignana, (where a penal colony system was already in place), and to the military prison in Gaeta. It has been difficult for historians to estimate the exact number of people deported from Libya to Italy: this could oscillate between 6000 and 9000 individuals.
The living conditions of deportees were contingent upon their location and period of detention. In Gaeta, they were permanently detained in the local military prison, where the dire living conditions were made worse by frequent cholera and tuberculosis outbreaks. In other locations, detention was often imposed as a ‘necessary’ measure to prevent and contain the spread of diseases, but over time deportees gained some freedom to move across the islands during the day. In Favignana, Ustica and the San Nicola island (Tremiti archipelago), many of them would work in different local businesses. This allowed for a more direct interaction with locals, which was almost impossible in the case of Gaeta. Deportees were not held indefinitely in Italy: thanks to amnesties and local negotiations, they would be able to eventually return home. Yet, hundreds of people died due to diseases and dire detention conditions.
Under Fascism, deportations became more selective. The main targets were influential members of the Libyan community, who were deported to Italy to enable negotiations in the colony and avoid further rebellions. Ustica was the only location, among the ones mentioned above, where Libyans were still deported under Fascism (some of them were also deported to mainland locations). They received much more favourable treatment than their predecessors and had frequent interactions with locals as well as anti-fascist militants and intellectuals who had been exiled to the island by the Fascist regime.