35 migrants arrive in Syracuse

Up until now, few, in fact none, had arrived, but yesterday Syrian migrants reached Sicilian shores. An article from blogsicilia:
Thirty five migrants arrived on the coast at Fontane Bianche, on the outskirts of Syracuse, this morning aboard a 20 metre vessel. The migrants were intercepted by Syracuse's Public Prosecutor's Interforze group soon after getting off the boat.

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski - Chapter One: Arrivata.

Nina Perkowski came to Sicily to research the living situation of immigrants from Africa in Sicily for her PhD. For borderline-europe, she reported the situation in Cassibile and Mineo, where there is a collective home for asylum seekers. Within ten chapters Nina wrote down her experiences and her monitorings.

Chapter Two: “My name is Endurance.”

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski
 
“When will my papers finally come?” “Do you have news?” “I am not happy, tell him that!” “I just need a soggiorno for three months.” “You don’t understand.” “The whole day, I am sitting around not doing anything, I go crazy like that.” “I have a future. I know I have a future and I won’t let them take it from me.”

Chapter Three: Settling in.

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

The last few days have been quieter, no more travelling to Cassibile or Mineo - instead, I took some time to explore my new temporary home town, Catania. On Friday, I attended a screening of a film on the US bases in Sicily and worldwide with a subsequent discussion - and ended up leaving early, after 2,5hrs of understanding only the very basics of what was going on. Over the last few days I also went to a concert in an occupied theatre, strolled the market, went for my first ride on the back of a little motorino, explored a bit of the city’s seaside, and took long walks through the city.

Chapter Four: What’s in a Law?

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

“There used to be three reception centres in Catania. People would live there and go out, explore the city, integrate into city life. And now they instead put them all in the middle of nowhere, 2000 people grouped together and isolated from society. Rendered invisible to the rest of the world. I just cannot believe it.”

Chapter Five: Without any choice?

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

Today is the 20th of June, the day the United Nations has declared as World Refugee Day. Every year, demonstrations, celebrations, and all sorts of actions are organised around the world to raise awareness for the plight of those displaced and to promote tolerance towards and support of them. In Catania, the day was used to present the results of a recent study on the integration of refugees in Italy, especially their (poor) access to housing and work. At the CARA of Mineo, World Refugee Day will be marked tomorrow by celebrations and concerts inside, and a press conference denouncing the conditions in the camp outside its fences.

Chapter Six: Mineo.

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

On the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 20, the Antiracist Network Catania organised a press conference on June 21 at the CARA of Mineo. After many protests last year regarding the living conditions for the almost 1900 asylum seekers at the CARA, this year has been much quieter in terms of political mobilisation. To draw renewed attention to the persisting problems, the Antiracist Network organised a press conference which was attended by RAI3, Telecolor, and three local TV stations.

Chapter Seven: Sbarco.

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

The last week here has been pretty much bizarre, absurd, almost unreal…. now, Friday night, I am left with a curious mix of anger, helplessness, frustration and a great number of questions on my mind.

On Monday, the Italian Refugee Council (CIR) and a range of other organisations celebrated World Refugee Day with a slight delay, and welcomed a variety of speakers reflecting on current conditions and pressing needs regarding the situation of refugees in Italy. Speakers included delegates of various NGOs but also the UNHCR, the prefecture, and the local police station. Naturally, they came with varying viewpoints and agendas – and I am currently still in the process of writing and reflecting on some of my impressions from this day. Overall, the atmosphere was benevolent, many refugees attended, and it was a rather interesting afternoon and evening, which ended with an impressive movie.

Chapter Eight: Beyond Italy – Solidarity Activism Across EU Boundaries.

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

When I finally set foot on Sicilian lands again, I felt relieved. An eventful week lay behind me, thoughts kept racing through my head, and I had gotten more and more impatient as I was waiting to be allowed to leave the ferry from Tunis, which had reached Palermo with a four-hour delay.

Chapter Nine: Riace, Città d’Accoglienza – a Visit in Utopia?

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski 

Wednesday morning, 10.30am. I am sitting on the little square in Riace, a 1700-people village in Calabria, southern Italy. Around me elderly men, locals from the village who spend their time chatting, watching what is going on, dozing off in the shade. People here know each other, greet passersby. As a friend in Catania said, “time in Riace seems to be reversing. A visit there is almost like a time travel, like going back to Italy in the 1960s.” Only the children running around and playing with each other don’t seem to fit this description. They show that something has changed in the last 50 years: the small village of Riace has become a truly multicultural community.

Chapter Ten: Goodbye!

A Sicilian Diary of Nina Perkowski

With the blink of an eye, three months have passed and I am finding myself on a plane high above the earth, heading back to Berlin. The last days were hectic, as they usually are when leaving one life and heading towards another. Until now, I have barely thought about the fact that I am leaving Sicily, that my brief stay there has already come to an end. I have not felt the goodbye, have not realized yet that I will not be coming back any time soon.

The "bosses" of Cassibile

from Argocatania
Cassibile, Siracusa. Every year from April to June, the town's population of 5,000 (300 of whom come from Marocco) increases by several hundred due to the arrival of migrant workers who come for the annual  potato harvest. We spoke to Alfonso Di Stefano from the Catania Anti-Racist Network about the living and working conditions of the migrants. The problems are foremost linked to the logistics and organisation of the work. In general, those arriving come from other parts of Italy and other harvests in what can be considered a true transhumance of migrant work in the countryside of the South. In the last couple of years, however, there has been an increase in the number of foreign workers from the North of Italy due to an increase in cuts and job losses in various industries.

Report from Cassibile

Since the beginning of May, a mobile clinic run by the organisation Emergency has been operating in Cassibile. The mobile clinic is a bus which is parked in Piazza dei Caduti del Conto Rossso from Monday to Friday from 16,30 to 21,30 and provides basic medical assistance to those in need. It is a positive, but unfortunately rare, sign of humanity in a general climate of hypocrisy and hostility. The camp run by the organisation CRI, next to the Cassibile slip road on the Catania- Gela motorway, is slowly filling up (120 out of the 150 places have been taken). Yet the shameful entry requirements of having a permit of stay and a work contract still haven't been abolished.

S. O. S. CASSIBILE

For several weeks now, scores of migrants have been arriving in Cassibile for the potato harvest. In the next couple of days, like every year, the figure will be in the hundreds. In order to provide "accommodation", the same organization as last year, CRI is setting up a huge campsite which will take 120 to 150 migrants. And also this year, it will be built right next to the motorway exit, on an area which has been leveled off and had trees cut down. To get to the town of Cassibile, the migrants must cross two motorway slip roads and continue for over a kilometre, thereby posing great risk to their safety, especially during the evenings. What is important, however, is the fact that they are super- exploited, work in silence and  they keep their heads down in the town. The vast majority of migrants who will not find a place in the campsite, will have to look after themselves, sleeping rough in abandoned buildings, without running water or electricity and living mainly off potatoes.