Survivors of the latest tragedy land in Augusta, among them 24 casualties and 100 missing

When I reach the pier at 2 pm, in this hot, windy day, Augusta’s commercial port is in turmoil. The “Fiorillo”, a Coast Guard vessel, is full to the brim with migrants: they have been docked for over two hours, but disembarkation operations have not yet begun. I notice a group of people standing there, waiting: doctors from the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders, Civil Protection operators, representatives of the IOM, UNHCR, and Save the Children for the Praesidium, Police, Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza. Since August 1st , there are also representatives of Frontex, who interview the shipwreck survivors, and discuss with the authorities; yet they avoid at any cost giving out information on their reason of being there, and on their work.

Surviving Eritreans of shipwreck from 3rd of October are transferred from Lampedusa to Pozzallo

Being transferred from the CSPA (First Reception Centre) of Lampedusa on Sunday 12th of January, thus after more than 100 days on the island, the seven Eritreans (six men and one woman), who are survivors of the shipwreck of 3rd of October, have finally left Lampedusa. Leaving the island by ship in the late morning, they arrived at Porto Empedocle at 20 pm. On Monday, they got accompanied to the court in Palermo, where they had to testify in the ongoing case against the alleged smuggler. At the end of the hearing, they were brought to the CSPA (First Reception Centre) of Pozzallo, without being notified about it, before.

Eritrean refugees from the 3rd of October shipwreck got transferred from Lampedusa only after 101 days

101 days have passed since the shipwreck of 3rd of October, when 366 people lost their lives. Only today, the last seven Eritreans, six men and one woman, who were forced to stay on the island for juridical reasons (according to the statements of minister Alfano), were transferred from the CSPA (First Reception Centre) on Lampedusa. It took 101 days to transfer them to Palermo, where they will be questioned at court, tomorrow. Thus, only six Syrian refugees remain on the island, forced to stay for juridical reasons, too. Also they have been on Lampedusa since months, as they arrived on 14th of October. According to the vice mayor of Lampedusa, they will be transferred on 15th of January.

Letter from Mussie Zerai on the affairs at Lampedusa

The Honourable Angelino Alfano, Interior Minister

The Honourable Dr Francesca Ferrandino, Prefect of Agrigento

I am writing this open letter to you in order to ask for a logical explanation, assuming that there is one, for what we have seen happening at Lampedusa shown on the TV news (TG2 Rai), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL7M3ykTci0 in which the guests at the reception centre are disinfected like animals in the open air, exposed to the elements, in winter, above all without any respect to their human dignity, methods which have only ever been seen in the documentary films of the concentration camps in which the Jews were subjected to similar treatment by the Nazis.