Lampedusa: boats4people and film festival

We’ve come back to Lampedusa and returned to the same house as last year where we carried out the monitoring project. This time we’re here to lend a hand to Askavusa and help prepare for boats4people and the LampedusaInFestival.

After visiting Cecina, Palermo, Pantelleria and Monastir (Tunisia), boats4people are about to end their tour on the island in a few days’ time. The festival will see the arrival of international activists and the schooner OLOFERNE on Lampedusa.
On 18th July at 7pm, a press conference will be held on board the OLOFERNE and on 19th July the festival will open with a commemoration for all those who have lost their lives or gone missing at sea.
There is still a lot to do for the festival. As the result of several delays, the location for the festival- Cala Palme- wasn’t confirmed until yesterday.
The festival aside, the rest of the island is calm. The mayor, Giusu Nicolini, this morning confirmed that the reception centre Contrada Imbriacolo was reopened last Monday (9th July) with a maximum capacity of 300 places. We dropped by and everything seemed calm there. The buildings which burned last year are still present- they haven’t been taken down or restructured. Nonetheless, the other buildings have had air-conditioning installed. The Ministry of the Interior’s lorry is also no longer there. We are hoping to be able to have an interview with the mayor next week.
Judith Gleitze, Borderline Sicilia.