Richard Gere criticizes Italian migration policies

Actor Richard Gere has released a video appeal alongside ActionAid criticizing Italian and European migration policies. Gere expressed concern that fear is replacing compassion and that human rights are being treated as obstacles to migration management.

He specifically targeted the Italian migration model involving Albania, warning that shifting migration control outside European Union borders could become a blueprint for future EU policies. Gere criticized the increasing reliance on detention, deportation, and the externalization of border controls.

The appeal follows the publication of the report ‘Trattenuti’, produced by ActionAid and the University of Bari. The report examines Italy’s repatriation centers (CPR) and expulsion policies, noting that in 2025, Italy carried out 4,784 forced repatriations. In response to the criticism, Italian politician Matteo Salvini dismissed Gere’s comments, telling the actor to ‘act, not give lessons to Italians’.