No One Is Meant To Know

At the recent Paris talks, representatives from France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the EU confirmed their shared political line of cooperating with dictatorial states, of being the de facto ATM for blood thirsty regimes whose task is, and will increasingly be, to block people departing for Europe at all costs. It is important that nothing of what’s going on in Africa leaks into Europe, into public opinion. Minniti and the Italian government have already done the dirty work for this, gorging out indiscreet eyes by excluding the NGO ships from the Mediterranean, the unique and troublesome witnesses.

Rejected Tunisians at the Palermo train station

October 3rd commemorated through illegal deportations

We have learned to our disdain that last monday, September 28, the police station at Ragusa gave notice for the rejection of 22 migrants from the CSPA* at Pozzallo. Among them are 9 women, of whom two have been identified as minors, and one is pregnant. 

Their nationalities: Madagascar, Comoros, Egypt and Somalia. Witnesses confirmed that the migrants, after being shown the door of the centre at about 8pm, wandered through the streets of Pozzallo for a few minutes when a bus drove up and offered them transportation to leave Sicily.

As has been revealed in recent days, in Catania, Palermo and Syracuse the authorities continue to violate fundamental rights, and to hand migrants over to the hands of traffickers ready to do business from them.

Tomorrow, we will be the castaways

3rd October in Lampedusa: Between the parade of politicians and commemoration.
“Closed due to bereavement”, “For peace and respect for our brothers and sisters who died in the sea off Lampedusa” is written on placards hanged on closed shop doors in Lampedusa. It is peace we keep waiting for.

Fleeing migrants. Who lands, who is returned and who loses his life at sea

In the anniversary of the 3 October carnage, it is still dramatic the situation of who has no other choice than running away by sea, in order to escape from bombs, survive and build his own future. Even during the last week, the arrival of 528 migrants was recorder just on southern Sicilian coast. 135 arrived during the night of the 30th of September in Pozzallo harbor. Out of these 135, 118 were men, 8 were women and 8 were children. They were rescued in international waters south from Malta by the Greek tanker “Aegean Myth”.

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.