Serious Violations of Rights on Lampedusa

In these times, so arid from the standpoint of humanity, the question which we keep asking of ourselves is at what point can we push ourselves further. The direction is clear: walls, rejections, abandonment. Those paying the price of these inhumane political choices are migrants themselves, ending up as cannon fodder in Libya (a country which never signed the Geneva Convention), dying at sea, or being exploited and abandoned in Italy. Today the situation is worse still, after the migrant hunt has been officially opened, and the raids are already taking place in our cities.

Migrants landed at Porto Empedocles from Lampedusa. Ph: Alberto Todaro

Stories from Siculiana: The good, the bad, and the ugly of arriving at the reception center for primary care Villa Sikania*

“Time does not exist here. You spend the day with eating, sleeping, and waiting; after a while it is as if time does not exist.” These are the words of A., a very young African, who tells us that he just turned eighteen yesterday. We wish him a happy belated birthday; he smiles, but then quickly stops again. His friend B. has a white bandage on the inside of his right arm. “I was sick and they had to bring me to the hospital a couple of days ago. Here, they do not hand out medication, none at all.” We know, however, that there is a nurse working at the reception center. We are unable to fully understand what B. suffers from, yet, it is clear that he was brought to a hospital where he was being treated.