A War on Migrants: The Palermo Landing

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On August 31st, 1169 people were landed at the the port of Palermo. Those rescued by the Garibaldi, a ship which is usually tasked with the mission of defending our coastlines, our country, our security, were dealt with in a “military” manner, inasmuch – in referring to the presence of migrants on board – one […]

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Don’t Worry Dad, I’ll Die Happy Because You’re Alive At Least

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I cannot but feel pain when confronted by the death of an innocent, and the thought that someone you love might lose their life in such an unjust way sends a long, cold shiver down your spine. The news that a father had to leave his small daughter dead at sea so as to try […]

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The Voices of Those Who Are Thrown Back by the Walls and a Lethal Indifference

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In these muggy August days we have been reading tales of violence meted out on migrants in various ways: from the politician who comes up with a decree to prevent acts of solidarity extended to migrants asking for food, to teenagers who have died from the crushing effects of a society which remains indifferent to […]

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That Old Hotel at Geraci Siculo

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Geraci, famous for the clean waters which flow from the nearby springs, has been host to an Emergency Reception Centre (CAS*) since 2011. During the North African emergency, the owners of the old Ventimiglia hotel decided to change profession and the hoteliers/restaurant owners became instead a coop which – first under state protection, and then […]

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Everyone Sit Down Please

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It’s not just a line for children, but also the position lived out by migrants while on board the rescue ships, while waiting their identification at the port, while in the police station for their finger prints to be taken. Sat on the ground so that we can watch over them from above. We who […]

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The Reception System for Minors is Called HELL

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In Sicily we have a constant feeling of total despair in relation to the practices of institutional actors, those who are meant to protect people, particularly minors, in line with national and international regulations. Moments of the protest by minors at Salemi – Photo: Alberto Biondo Not a single day passes in which we don’t […]

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Boys On The Outside

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It’s not only the title of a celebrated film by Marco Risi, but the situation lived out today by a vast number of young men and women who arrive on our coasts or who have remained for a long time in the Extraordinary Reception Centres (CAS*). Last week we visited four such centres and met […]

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So Many Arrivals, So Little Protection. Migrants In Ever Worse Conditions And Abandoned To Themselves.

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In only a few days 4,500 people have been rescued and brought to the main Sicilian ports: Pozzallo, Augusta, Catania, Messina, Porto Empedocle and Palermo. The arrival of such a high number of migrants paradoxically corresponds to refugees’ extraordinary invisibility and the lack of protection for them. As always happens when there are various landings […]

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Landings at Agrigento and Palermo: “Where is my husband? Please help me!”

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Last Saturday (June 25th), the Coast Guard ship “Diciotti” disembarked 886 people at Palermo, including around 150 women, many of them very young, and 96 minors. These Nigerians, Ivorians, Guineans and Senegalese set foot in the Sicilian capital only for a few hours. Around 13 Eritreans were present, including 3 young women who were taken […]

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Western Sicily: A Week of Hell

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Over the week just gone, our attention has turned not only to the landings at Palermo, Porto Empedocle, Trapani and back to Porto Empedocle again, but also to the number of requests for help from the provinces of western Sicily, a place interesting not only for its high climatic temperatures but also the neglect, abandonment […]

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