Segregation in the Name of Security

There are many ways to do away with someone, and the most underhand that our society uses is excluding people in the name of security.

While we leave the alarm of ‘invasion’ to keep on playing like a broken record, we are sending people back to their torturers, whether they are Libyan militia or Turkish presidents. And in the name of security we leave thousands of people to die at see, people fleeing danger who die in the most absolute silence.

The mechanisms of exclusion continue within the confines of our national borders as well. Some of the young men have decided to remain at the famous tent-city of Erbe Bianche at Campobello di Mazara, and the only way to survive there is to be exploited by local farmers who pass by the camp each morning to offer work.

Three days ago we went to find them, and the cold struck into our bones as soon as we got out of the car, as if the cold wind wanted to make things very clear: here you’ll suffer! Fortunately we were warmed up by the embraces and smiles of the young men who, despite everything, never fail to raise a smile. But seeing ‘A.’ taking a shower under the open sky, with a bucket of water heated up by his friend, makes you realise how much humanity we are losing, or perhaps we have already lost it all. Solidarity is the only weapon left for those who want to support people living in inhumane conditions such as those at Erbe Bianche. Fortunately there is a certain mutual aid among those who live there: who does not have work cooks or heats up the water, and waits for those who are working, gathering around the fire.

But it is the fire itself that represents the constant danger, both in terms of the smoke you breath – frequently inside the tents – as well as the risk of the flames getting out of control. Despite the existence of a round table with the local associations, the solution found by the authorities has been a trade union decree ordering people to leave the camp within 20 days from February 12th. Obviously no alternative solution has been offered and the only consequence will be that these people become still more invisible.

The only concern is the protection of the well-to-do land owners who need these young men, by now specialists in pruning trees and working the earth, but to whom no contractual guarantees or housing is provided. None of the trade unions report these situations to the police and none of the authorities keep the exploitation in check. The eviction will be followed by rejoicing on behalf of those who will work on regenerating the area with funds arriving from central government. And perhaps we will see the next waste of money, just like the €50,000 that were used to fix the unused part of the former oil plant at Fontanedoro.

Aside from the decree, we found some of the tents labelled “empty”, meaning that they are to be pulled down. The inhabited tents have been numbered in order to identify the peopl who live there. These are practices that recall other camps in which people ended up as ashes, but with the difference that for now – but only for the moment – here the young men have not been given an ID code on their skin.

For now, the only things that are being burned away are hope – and wood to fend off the cold.

Alberto Biondo
Borderline Sicilia

Project “OpenEurope” – Oxfam Italia, Diaconia Valdese, Borderline Sicilia Onlus

Translation by Richard Braude