Migrant Sicily Newsletter, January 2017
- Police Operations, Repression and Daily Massacres: Europe Continues to Build Walls Against Migrants
- The Invisible People of Campobello di Mazara, Caught Between Exploitation, Destitution and Abandonment
- Eastern Sicily: The Hostile Reception of Minors, Housed in Tent-Cities, Hotspots and Emergency Centres
- News: Pozzallo: Money For Migrants Used By The Local Council For Everything From Fixing the Gym to Paying Overtime
- Info and Contacts
POLICE OPERATIONS, REPRESSION AND DAILY MASSACRES: EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUILD WALLS AGAINST MIGRANTS
2016 was marked by shocking numbers of deaths at sea: more than 5,000 people lost their lives while crossing the Canal of Sicily. The official figures, however, do not take account of the missing, and all of the victims Fortress Europe has claimed even after the sea crossing, including those who managed to cross the borders unharmed. And yet we see no political will to stop this endless massacre. Instead, Italy wants to open new detention centres in 2017.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/01/do-not-lose-hope-and-strength-to-always/
On January 14th, 250 people were landed on Lampedusa. The Hotspot at Contrada Imbriacola is yet again full with 350 residents, including men, women and children. Three bodies also arrived at the island. The same day, news came of a shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Eight bodies were recovered, but the 4 survivors spoke of 190 people – Eritreans and Ethiopians – who drowned at sea, destined to join the silence of the nameless dead, the Mediterranean missing.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/20/lampedusa-counts-dead/
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/24/miss-im-sorry-but-i-have-to-inform-you/
Checks, selections and repression continue to substitute for a functioning reception system in Italy, integration and respect for the rights of the weakest. Behind the numbers of those repatriated, the expelled and detained there are people judged on the basis of nothing other than their country of origin, rather than their individual stories.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/23/deaths-at-border-control-and-repression/
THE INVISIBLE PEOPLE OF CAMPOBELLO DI MAZARA, CAUGHT BETWEEN EXPLOITATION, DESTITUTION AND ABANDONMENT
Around 80 people live in the camp next to the old oil plant confiscated from the Mafia, African men who worked in the olive harvest and now wait to be called for the mandarin season. Housed in the open fields, in ramshackle sheds without doors, and in DIY shelters made of wood and plastic sheets, they live without running water, electricity or sanitary services.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/13/invisible-people-ripe-for-exploiting/
EASTERN SICILY: THE HOSTILE RECEPTION OF MINORS, HOUSED IN TENT-CITIES, HOTSPOTS AND EMERGENCY CENTRES
Around 24,000 unaccompanied minors arrived in Italy in 2016, who continue to be subjected to illegal, inhumane and degrading detention. In Pozzallo, Catania, Messina and Augusta, arriving minors are left for weeks in the ports’ tent-cities. Deprived of medical, material or psychological care, and kept in the tents even throughout winter, they live without any appropriate divisions between men, women and families, and at times there aren’t even enough blankets or clothes.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/05/minors-in-tent-cities-and-hotspots/
NEWS: POZZALLO: MONEY FOR MIGRANTS USED BY THE LOCAL COUNCIL FOR EVERYTHING FROM FIXING THE GYM TO PAYING OVERTIME
Money destined for migrants was used to fix the gym, repair public works and pay council overtime. Six council workers in Pozzallo have been charged with using funds earmarked for the reception system for projects which had nothing to do with helping migrants or the running of the Hotspot.
http://139.59.187.32/2017/01/05/minors-in-tent-cities-and-hotspots/
INFO AND CONTACTS
For information on how to donate to Borderline Sicilia Onlus – Banca Etica Popolare di Palermo Agenzia di Via Catania, 24 IBAN IT 28 Q 0501804600000000141148 Codice BIC CCRTIT2T84A – and for updates on the current situation of migration in Sicily see the blog:
www.siciliamigranti.blogspot.com or follow our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/Borderline-Sicilia-ONLUS-1145159495525466/
Our blogs
www.siciliamigranti.blogspot.com → In Italian
www.siciliamigrants.blogspot.com → In German
www.migrantsicily.blogspot.com → In English
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borderline-sicilia@libero.it
Project “OpenEurope” – Oxfam Italia, Diaconia Valdese, Borderline Sicilia Onlus
Translation by Richard Braude
