Michel Ivo Ceresoli was born in Guinea Conakry to an Italian father and a Guinean mother. For 20 years, from 1998 to 2018, the embassy in Guinea was closed and he was unable to obtain a visa from the consulate.
Relying on traffickers, he left Guinea in February 2023, he managed to embark from Sfax in Tunisia to Lampedusa where he landed on 4 July 2023. On Italian soil he told the police that he was Italian. However, no one believed him. On July 6th he was transferred to the Cara of Isola Capo Rizzuto where he finally found an audience. The Crotone prefecture carried out the checks and on 22 February 2024 the Municipality of Isolas CapoRizzuto issued him the identity card. On the document it says: 'Italian citizenship' "I am an Italian - said Michel Ivo - who had to do so as an illegal immigrant to reach his country".