The Camp At Pian Del Lago, Caltanissetta: A Non-Place Of Desperation

Living conditions are increasingly worse for the migrants living at the informal camp at Pian del Lago. After the last police eviction (26 May 2017) they have been forced to set up their tents in the remaining spaces between the big holes in the earth left by the diggers from Caltambiente. The attempt is of course the continual reconstruction of the tent city, only in a still more difficult situation, one which was already tragic.

Migrants, the CIE* and the hotspots reminding of Lager. Between dirt, cold and loss of dignity

MeridioNews.it – The first report of the National Guarantor for the Rights of Detained and Semi-Detained Persons focuses on a long series of shortfalls which characterise the stay of foreign citizens arriving in Italy. In this context, structural problems are added to procedures casting doubt on whether rules are being respected.

After the Latest Eviction: An Update on the Camp at Pian del Lago

In mid-March the police yet again evicted the camp at Pian del Lago (Caltanissetta). All this achieved was the temporary removal of some of those who had found a precarious sanctuary under the motorway overpass. After the police operation had been carried out at dawn, some of the migrants were taken in by the reception centre at Caltanissetta, while many others – not having anywhere else to go – had no option but to reconstruct the camp-site the very same night.

Caltanissetta. After the Eviction, the Shanty Town Returns. Shacks Without Water: The Asylum Seekers Speak Out

From MeridioNews.it

Six days ago the police guaranteed a relocation process, one which nonetheless only took place for some. The others came back to live under the bridge, near to the migrant reception centre at Pian del Lago. They brought water bottles in shopping trolleys from a supermarket, and looked for wood to burn to warm themselves up.

Ph. MeridioNews.it

Press release: A Country's Humanity Can Be Seen in the Smallest of Things. But Also the Big Ones.

It seems that the postal workers, when collaborating with the Ministry of the Interior in relation to the “envelope” containing news of foreign nationals' leave to remain, see themselves as sheriffs. The directors of the local post office branches, again in virtue of this agreement, see themselves in turn as members of the government, with delegated powers relating to immigration.

Visit to “Villa Sergio” in Caltanissetta

Villa Sergio is one of the communities managed by the association “Casa Rosetta” that groups together several reception projects with different target groups: therapeutic communities, housing for disabled people and unaccompanied minors, residences for people affected by HIV.
Any of these reception homes works according to its own modus operandi and is characterized by the peculiarities of the projects themselves, as well as by the professionalism and preparation of the staff, and by the beneficiaries who live there.
Villa Sergio – its name referring to the name of its first resident – is a facility that has been officially registered with the National Health Service and hosts people affected by HIV.

Caltanissetta: a visit in the refugee camp

It is the third winter in a row in which we are monitoring the refugees encamped around the governmental centre of Pian del Lago in Caltanissetta. Our last visit here dates back to October. The living conditions become harder during winter season for those who have to live in the streets for several weeks, before being granted access to the procedures of obtaining international protection.

Caltanissetta: The commitment of the Counter for Immigrants, the market for residency and the administrative procedures for the renewal of the residence permit.

Established 10 years ago and carried on by the commitment of 4 volunteers, the Counter for Immigrants of Caltanissetta activated the service for enrolment into the civil registry for people without a fixed home of the municipality of Caltanissetta in 2013, with the intention to hinder and combat the market for false residencies which had established in town – especially by some citizens who speculated on the necessity of foreigners to register for the renewal of the residence permit. Citizens of Caltanissetta who probably are part of those who are against the welcoming of migrants, who applaud the xenophobic comments of local and national politicians and who are always ready to move between institutional voids hat open spaces to illegality and to the exploitation of the most vulnerable.

Caltanissetta: At Villa Amedeo, meeting the new residents of the CAS on Via Niscemi

 We continue with out monitoring outside the welcome centres in the province of Caltanissetta. The choice of monitoring outside the centres is a direct consequence of the authorisation by the prefecture, which includes conditions which we find unacceptable and in contrast with our association's primary aim to safeguard asylum seekers' rights.

Thus last week I met with residents at the Extraordinary Welcome Centre (CAS) situated in Via Niscemi, next to the public park of 'Villa Amedeo.'

We visited the centre in question last year and found a very critical situation. We spoke about the centre again following a protest by the residents last January.

A young asylum seeker dies after being run over on the highway of Pian del Lago

The young men run over on the highway of the hamlet Pian del Lago last April 10 (Il Fatto Nisseno), did not survive. He died last April 20, on the intensive care unit at the hospital of Saint Elia of Caltanissetta. We were able to obtain this news through informal channels only 10 days later. No official institution spread the news. Neither the police department nor the prefecture communicated the death of an asylum seeker who died because of a run over on the highway that connects the government reception centre and the immigration office of the police department with the urban centre of Caltanissetta.

Elderly Asylum Seekers kept waiting outside CARA Pian del Lago for 24 hours

Last Wednesday we published the relative information regarding the transfer of 60 migrants, who had arrived in Palermo on the 14th of April, and were transferred that very morning to the CARA* of Pian del Lago. The centre was suddenly able to provide dozens of places, even though there was a list of Asylum Seekers that had been waiting for a place for weeks.

In particular, we told about the situation of an elderly couple who, along with their sons, were waiting for a week to be accepted and, after being summoned by the Police Headquarters for an appointment at 3 pm. were still waiting at the entrance at 8 pm.

How the denial of rights develops into illegality and abuse of power

Last week four asylum seekers housed at the reception centre at Pian del Lago were reported by the Financial Guard, who caught them selling cigarettes distributed in the centre, at the nearby market place. This is not a new phenomenon in the city and a proper analysis of the dynamics which have led to this situation helps to better understand this incident and to see that there other people responsible for the situation.

A week of protests in the Province of Caltanissetta

It has been a week of intense protests in several reception centres in the province of Caltanissetta. On January 13, about fifty residents of the CAS* which is located inside the Public Institute for Assistance and Charity of Pagano (where about 150 asylum seekers are living at the moment) protested against the intolerably long waiting time for being convoked by the local commission for the recognition of international protection. In order to gain visibility for their protests and for obtaining an answer, they put their mattresses outside the centre and began a hunger strike. The asylum seekers in question are of Pakistani origins who arrived at the centre last March – it has been since then that they are waiting for the convening of the hearing by the local commission.

Migrants escape from the Caltanisetta Detention Centre- "the situation is unsustainable"

Blog Sicilia- 10 immigrants attempted to escape from the Pian del Lago Detention Centre in Caltanisetta. The incident occurred when the immigrants initiated a riot to protest against the living conditions within the Centre.