Newsletter Migrantsicily April 2012
- New season of detentions at Lampedusa. Imbriacola Centre soon to be reopened
- New arrivals on the Agrigento coast
- Deadlines have passed and still no sign of extensions for the humanitarian permits for the North Africans
- Sicilian initiatives for the “LasciateCIEntrare” campaign
- Update on the difficult situation in the Salina Grande CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum
- Seekers), Trapani
NEW SEASON OF DETENTIONS AT LAMPEDUSA. IMBRIACOLA CENTRE SOON TO BE REOPENED
On the 2nd April, 48 migrants were rescued 60 miles off the Lampedusan coast. The boat they were travelling on had departed from Lybia. Ten of them ( 4 Eritreans and 6 Somalians) died during the crossing. The Public Prosecutions Office in Agrigento has opened an inquiry to try and find out what happened from the survivors.
http://www.leggo.it/articolo.php?id=174166&sez=NEWS
http://qn.quotidiano.net/cronaca/2012/04/03/691436-immigrati-morti-durante-traversata.shtml
http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/04/03/lampedusa-migranti-dieci-morti-mare/201975/
For almost three weeks, the 24 Somalians (20 men and 4women, one of whom is pregnant) are still on the island of Lampedusa. They are staying in a tourist residence in Cala Creta, which is being used by the Prefecture of Agrigento as a “temporary reception centre” for the first arrivals of the season. There is no staff present at the site. The violation of personal freedom, the right to health and human dignity are part of the system organised by the government in the reopening of the season of detention on the island… http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/riapre-la-stagione-delle-detenzioni.html
For more information on the gap in the transfer system run by the Civil Protection:
http://www.siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/il-prossimo-scandalo-della-protezione.html#more
The restructuring work on the Imbriacola Centre continue. By the end of the month the Centre will reopen with a capacity of 250 places.
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/regioni/sicilia/2012/04/19/Immigrazione-24-somali-3-settimane-Lampedusa-protesta_6744041.html
http://www.hercole.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32098&Itemid=111
NEW ARRIVALS ON THE AGRIGENTO COAST
The arrival of immigrants on the island continues. In the last few days several boats have arrived off the Agrigento coast, which is reminiscent of the previous years. The migrants are transported on large boats by traffickers who bring them close to the Agrigento shoreline. Yet they are pushed into the water and forced to swim the final stretches to dry land. The traffickers manage to escape, but the migrants who often don’t know how to swim, don’t always make it to the shore.
http://www.agi.it/in-primo-piano/notizie/201204281258-ipp-rt10041-immigrati_tragico_sbarco_a_licata_morto_un_minorenne
http://www.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca/sbarco-profughi-sulla-spiaggia-licata-morto-uno-dei-migranti.html
http://www.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca/montallegro-25-immigrati-sbarcano-sulla-costa-fermati-dai-carabinieri.html
http://www.televideoagrigento.net/pages/immigrazione-sbarco-sulla-costa-di-montallegri
The Agrigento Public Prosecutions Office opens countless inquiries into deaths at sea.
http://www.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca/licata-sbarco-immigrati-procura-inchiesta-morto-profugo.html
25 of the migrants who arrived on the last boat to reach Sicily, have been transferred to the Centre in Caltanisetta after being tracked down in the surrounding countryside. The police are continuing the search for the other migrants who managed to disappear.
http://www.grandangoloagrigento.it/?p=29087
DEADLINES HAVE PASSED AND STILL NO SIGN OF EXTENSIONS FOR THE HUMANITARIAN PERMITS FOR THE NORTH AFRICANS
April 2012 is the month when the permits, the ex DPCM of 5th April 2011, issued by the Italian government should expire. They were issued to the North African citizens who arrived in Italy between the 1st January and midnight of the 5th April 2011. April is now over and no measures have been adopted by the Italian government as whether to renew them or not. At least 10 thousand people are affected, who from one day to the next risk finding themselves as irregular migrants, despite the fact that the same day the decree extending the permits to just 6 months was made, another decree was also made which extended the North African emergency until 31st December 2012. And somewhat paradoxically, last month the Italian government made an appeal for 39,000 seasonal workers as part of the flux decree. Read the press release issued by Borderline Sicilia Onlus and the Sicilian ASGI (Association for Judicial Studies on Immigration) section:
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/mancata-proroga-dei-permessi-umanitari.html
Listen to the interview with Paola Ottaviano, lawyer and partner of Borderline Sicilia Onlus, in the Passpartù episode of the 27th April 2012:
http://amisnet.org/agenzia/2012/04/26/passpartu-27-dentro-ai-cie/
SICILIAN INITIATIVES FOR THE “lasciateCIEntrare” CAMPAIGN
The national campaign “LasciateCIEntrare” called for a week of action in front of the
Italian CIEs (Immigration Detention Centre). On the 23rd and 27th April, rallies in front of the CIEs/ reception centres in Trapani and Caltanisetta were organised.
In Serraino Vulpitta (Trapani), where there are currently over 50 migrants, the situation is reaching dramatic levels. The migrants attempted to communicate with the activists through open windows. They were saying that they had been detained without sufficient evidence, that they hadn’t been informed of their right to contact a lawyer, that the police often carry out raids on the cells during the night and the general living conditions are terrible. A young Tunisian who had tried to escape was stopped by the police. His friends said the police broke his arm. At the end of the rally, a detainee informed us that the young Tunisian had already been deported. The report on the day at Trapani:
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/ci-siamo-incontrati-stamattina-alle-10.html
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/il-centro-di-detenzione-vulpitta-di.html
For further information on what happened at Pian del Lago, the CIE/CARA in Caltanisetta, read the report by prof. Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo, which was written following a visit to the Centre in Caltagirone by members of Borderline Sicilia Onlus and the Sicilian section of ASGI.
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/detenuti-ed-ospiti-nel-cie-ca.html
UPDATE ON THE DIFFICULT SITUATION IN THE SALINA GRANDE CARA (TRAPANI)
The situation in the Trapani CARA remains critical. Thanks to the pressure applied by the Sicilian Antiracist Movement and to the reports denouncing the centre on our blog in the past couple of days, problems concerning the reception of around 10 migrants have momentarily been resolved. The migrants had gone to look for work and as a consequence lost their places within the Centre. Nonetheless, the problems within the structure remain numerous.
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/salinagrande-ritorsioni-per-chi-parla.html
http://siciliamigranti.blogspot.it/2012/04/normal-0-21-false-false-false-de-x-none.html
