Out of sight, out of mind: Italy-Libya and its colonial past and present

Contemporary cooperation between Italy and Libya on migration control is often analysed in a vacuum, framed as a pragmatic response to human trafficking and irregular migration. This article argues that such policies cannot be fully understood without engaging with the colonial history that continues to shape relations between the two countries. Drawing on focus group discussions, I examine how coloniality informs contemporary understandings of migration control, responsibility, and legitimacy within the Italian political sphere. I trace the historical relationship between Italy and Libya, highlighting continuities between colonial practices of internment, racialised governance, and contemporary outsourcing of migration control. Using Stoler’s concept of colonial aphasia, I explore how these forms of coloniality emerge in public discourse. I argue that coloniality shapes public understandings of Italy’s role in Libya, through colonial aphasia and paternalistic attitudes, affecting people’s understanding of responsibility to people on the move, and creating hierarchies of deservingness along racialised and neo-colonial lines. By examining the relationship between colonial memory, legitimacy, and migration governance, the article contributes to scholarship on the coloniality of migration and the enduring influence of colonial histories on contemporary border regimes.