As Europe migration debate rages, Bologna businessman's death highlights human cost

BOLOGNA, Italy, Aug 4 - When tens of thousands of would-be migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week, Italy's right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni promptly said she would suspend a free-movement accord with Spain, even though Ceuta is excluded from the pact.

And when a distressed Moroccan businessman who feared repatriation despite having lived in Italy for 36 years died after being stopped by police two weeks ago in Bologna, with viral footage showing two officers sitting on him to restrain him, the government jumped to the law enforcers' defence.

Right-wing media depicted the man as another disorderly migrant causing trouble, highlighting drug convictions in his youth, while opposition politicians accused the government of racism and condoning police brutality.

What few did, in public at least, was ask who Abderrahim Fakir really was, and what might have caused his distress – something that sociologists and refugee agencies say reduces an immigration debate sweeping Europe to a caricature that prevents a more constructive response.

POLITICS AND 'DEHUMANISATION'

"The political agenda of many politicians requires the dehumanisation of migrants," said Maurizio Ambrosini, who teaches the sociology of migration at Milan's Statale University.

"If we don't see them as people in flesh and blood but as an abstract phenomenon, it becomes easier to tackle the issue without too much fuss or human considerations."

In the months before his death on July 19, Fakir, the 42-year-old owner of a small metalworking firm, appeared to those around him much as he always had: warm, sociable and quick to smile.

Yet underneath, he was trying to hold together a carefully built life that seemed to be slipping inexorably out of control.

Videos shot by neighbours that day showed two police officers pinning him to the ground face-down, helped by a resident, and remaining on him for several minutes as he cried for help.

They had responded to reports of a man roaming around, yelling incoherently, kicking garage doors and banging on a car with its driver inside.

The next day, after the videos showing Fakir's last moments had circulated online, Bologna's centre-left mayor Matteo Lepore called a rally to demand accountability and in support of his family.

It drew thousands of peaceful citizens but turned violent when a small group marched towards police headquarters, hurling objects and injuring dozens of officers.

Government supporters demanded the mayor resign, the opposition blamed Meloni's tough law-and-order policies - and Fakir himself faded quickly from the picture.

AWAITING RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION AND AUTOPSY

But whatever the results of a pending autopsy, and investigations into the officers who subdued him and four Red Cross volunteers who looked on before trying to revive him, Fakir was nothing like any politician's caricature of an immigrant.

Interviews with his relatives, lawyer and friends reveal a man trying to keep up appearances while struggling with problems in the business he had built and the extra stress of fearing expulsion to Morocco, having lived in Italy almost all his life.

His older sister Khadija said he had recently grown withdrawn and often skipped family gatherings, but no one suspected how anxious he was inside.

"He wanted to protect us. He would call to ask how I was and how the children were doing, and say everything was fine," she told Reuters.

Barbara Spinelli, Fakir's lawyer, had been helping him try to regain an Italian residence permit he had relinquished due to an extended stay in Morocco after his mother died in 2021.

"We were very close to resolving his situation, but in June the judge assigned to his case was suddenly transferred," Spinelli said. "He panicked, even though I reassured him it would soon be resolved."

At around the same time, immigration authorities summoned Fakir, requesting verification of his status despite a court order allowing him provisionally to remain in Italy.

"He was terrified of being sent back to Morocco," Spinelli said.

WARNING SIGNS OF DISTRESS

On June 12, police found Fakir wandering, confused, in Castello d'Argile outside Bologna. The incident ended without complications, mayor Alessandro Erriquez told state-owned broadcaster RAI.

A few days later, he showed up at a Bologna hospital with a self-inflicted injury and asked for psychiatric help, family lawyer Fabio Anselmo said. Records of the incident described him as depressed, but calm - a poor signal of the internal turmoil that would shortly burst into the open.

Fakir had come to Italy from Morocco at the age of six, and had lived in Bologna since 1995. Friends described him as outgoing and rooted in the local community.

"He was lively, always present in class, and was a great football player," said Riccardo, a former schoolmate who declined to give his surname.

After two convictions for drug offences committed as a teenager, Fakir had a series of jobs before setting up his own firms, first in logistics and most recently his metalworking business, which was facing difficulties.

Having to lay off eight of his 12 employees had distressed him, his lawyer Spinelli said, yet Fakir hid his anguish from his family.

"He was always joking," recalled his 23-year-old niece Yossra. "His nieces and nephews were like his own children."

Unlike Yossra, Fakir's sister Khadija had been unable to watch the videos of her brother's final moments.

"My family trusts the Italian justice system and the police," she said. "We expect the truth to emerge." REUTERS