Migrant Sicily Newsletter, November 2017
- Lampedusa: The Laboratory of Migration Policies
- Invisible Migrants, Increasingly Vulnerable to Blackmail: The New Slaves
- The Interventions of the Libyan Coast Guard Cause Death and Refoulments
- News: Inter-religious commemoration in Palermo; MEDU sends Minniti a letter on the Libyan holocaust
- Events: The Permanent People’s Tribunal to be held in Palermo; 2017 has reached its final month and it is almost Christmas…
- Info and contacts
LAMPEDUSA: THE LABORATORY OF MIGRATION POLICIES
The problems relating to the degrading conditions at the Lampedusa Hotspot are arising once again, in connection with the repeated push-backs and forced deportation of Tunisian citizens. Even while being condemned by the European Court for Human Rights, Italy continues to engage in illegal practices. Yet again we have seen protests by many Tunisian migrants who are demanding that their fundamental human rights be respected, rights that continue to be violated through degrading and illegal detention, in the total absence of legal information. The result of these policies is clearer than ever: hunger strikes, sewn-up mouths and people recovering in hospital.
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THE RECEPTION SYSTEM: BETWEEN IRRATIONALITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Both the migrants hosted in the former ‘Gasparro’ barracks in the Bisconte neighbourhood in Messina, and the local residents as well, live in a general situation of degradation and abandonment. Unfortunately, the irrationality of political and administrative choices have yet again led to arbitrary decisions that do not take account of the social context where reception centres are to be located. The Oxfam report “The Italian Reception System Lottery” focuses on the critical problems within the entire reception system, one still characterised by an emergency management of migrational flows. Oxfam makes very specific requests of the Italian government, with the aim of obtaining a new direction for the management of reception policies.
http://localhost:81/newborden/lotteria-italia-dellaccoglienza/
http://localhost:81/newborden/ex-caserma-gasparro-e-rione-bisconte-nel-degrado-dellabbandono/
INVISIBLE MIGRANTS, INCREASINGLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO BLACKMAIL: THE NEW SLAVES
The province of Palermo is home to a large number of Extraordinary Reception Centres (CAS) situated far from inhabited areas, isolated and badly managed. This tendency is the cause both of a clear frustration among workers in the centres, who find themselves isolated in their work, as well as an increasing number of migrants who leave the reception centres, leading to the creation of new ranks of the “invisible” who can easiluy be blackmailed, falling prey to exploitative labour practices. Their are places in Italy where the agricultural sector is based almost exclusively on the labour power of these new slaves, forced to live in degrading shanty towns such as that at Erbe Bianche. This creates a vicious cycle of shame and humiliation that marginalised, exploited people are forced to confront on a daily basis.
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THE INTERVENTIONS OF THE LIBYAN COAST GUARD CAUSE DEATH AND REFOULMENTS
Over the past few months there has been a series of accounts from NGOs engaging in rescue operations in the Canal of Sicily, critically reporting on the prejudicial activities of the Libyan Coast Guard and the extremely serious effects of the Italy-Libya agreement. The latest events relate to the violent intervention of the Libyan Coast Guard during a rescue operation by the Sea Watch 3 as well as what happened to the crew of the Aquarius, who were forced to wait more than four hours for the arrival of the Libyan Coast Guard without being able to intervene, putting two migrant boats at risk of shipwreck; they were subsequently taken back to Libya.
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NEWS: INTER-RELIGIOUS COMMEMORATION IN PALERMO; MEDU SENDS MINNITI A LETTER ON THE LIBYAN HOLOCAUST
The lay Combonian missionaries organised a moment of inter-religious meeting in Palermo at the Rotoli cemetery in order to commemorate those migrants who have died at sea and buried in the cemetery itself, as well as all those who have not been provided with a dignified burial and remain lost at sea.
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On November 25th, the team working at the landings in Pozzallo for Doctors For Human Rights (MEDU) sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, including a range of witness accounts that tell of the extremely serious violations of human rights suffered by migrants in Libya. The initiative is aimed at requesting effective and urgent action from the Italian government, the EU and the international community to stop these attrocious violations.
EVENTS: THE PERMANENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL TO BE HELD IN PALERMO; 2017 HAS REACHED ITS FINAL MONTH AND IT IS ALMOST CHRISTMAS…
The next session of the Permanent People’s Tribunal – established by Leilo Basso in 1979 – will be held in Palermo between December 18th and 20th, with the partipciation of a host of associations working across Sicily. The accusations will be directed at the responsability for the crimes committed by the Italian government and the EU against migrant people.
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If you choose to give a socially conscious gift this year, you have a great range to choose from! By buying a product from Thraedable that forms part of Borderline Sicilia’s line, you can contribute to supporting our association. Watch the video, and please share it with friends and relatives on social networks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesPeb4GVFY&feature=youtu.be
INFORMATION 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
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www.migrantsicily.blogspot.com → In English
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Translation by Richard Braude
