The New Tent Structures At The Port of Palermo

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Last Saturday, the Norwegian Frontex vessel Siem Pilot docked at Palermo, bringing with it a cargo of 1,000 migrants. We use this term because this is exactly how people are treated: like goods. Below we publish a letter sent to us by a volunteer who attended the port for the first time.   The Siem […]

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You Also Put Rubbish In Black Bags

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On Friday 16th December we were at the port of Palermo to welcome the 388 migrants who have beaten death and arrived on board the Spanish military vessel Navarra. Along with those rescued, there was also one body. Up until the moment of arrival at Palermo, the staff at the port ready to assist in […]

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They’re Not People, They’re Moroccans!

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We have taken some time to write about what happened in Palermo around three weeks ago, when the Coast Guard vessel Dattilo brought 1,048 migrants into Palermo. It has taken some time to digest the violations adopted as a systemic, inhuman practice, and above all we were concerned with providing some relief and support to […]

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Palermo: Fifty Expelled Migrants Wandering Aimlessly, No Money for the Trip

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Source: Repubblica.it Alert from voluntary associations: “This system is creating invisible people.” The 250 North Africans, mainly from Morocco, who arrivedon board the Dattilo on Monday morning along with a further 798migrants, after being left at the port for almost 30 hours, spent a second night in the city, under the cold wind and rain […]

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Hard to Accommodate: Palermo

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In the past few days we have read about the announcementsby the mayor of Gorino and the protests held by its citizens, and many of us have condemned such acts. Without doubt, racism and ignorance have created some monsters for the front pages, but in the end it has been too easy to “pick off […]

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The Great Frontier Within Our Cities

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There is a border we have built which is larger than any of the walls being raised up throughout the whole world, a frontier which is born from within ourselves and the culture from which we are all nourished even as children, a frontier which is created by our egoism and comfort, a frontier which […]

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Landings and Photo Identification: “Procedures are Overriding Humanitarian Necessity”

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By Redattoresociale.it The landings are taking longer and longer, increasing the migrants’ exhaustion and stress, and removing time which could be used for other rescue operations. Doctors Without Borders noted a problem in the system, calling for much faster landings. PALERMO. – The landings are taking longer and longer, increasing the migrants’ exhaustion and stress. […]

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From the Sea to the Countryside, Passing Through Our Cities

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What do a young Ghanaian woman, a middle-aged Nigerian man and a Senegalese teenager have in common? Beyond the colour of their skin, without a shadow of a doubt, they share an experience of violence and exploitation, and the fact that they have been killed by our laws. This system has decided to sacrifice migrants […]

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Fool’s Gold: A Night-Time Landing in Palermo, Migrants Left Out in the Rain

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The disembarking of 1,003 people was scheduled originally for 2pm on Tuesday, but the night before postponed to 8pm. When we arrived at that hour, the Coast Guard vessel Diciotti was already docked, with many of the migrants standing on the open deck next to the landing steps. The food, clothes and shoes – provided […]

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New Landing Procedures or Simply Chaos? The Example of a “Delayed Landing” at Messina

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“In aleis strenua – in pugna invicta”: “Resolute in venture, invincible in battle.” This is the motto of the Italian navy’s imposing vessel the Virginio Fasan (F591), the unusually long stop-over of which at the port of Messina drew the curiosity of passers-by. It raised doubts and some confusion among the local activists, readily expressed […]

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