Disappearing among the large numbers

They have reached the port of Catania tonight, the survivors of the immense tragedy of these days. 950 missing people to which are added new victims of the shipwreck that happened in the Aegean Sea this night, and others scattered on the coasts of Libya. These tragic numbers announced after the recent tragedies leave without words who for months and years of talk and false promises has heard too many of them. But it’s exactly this hypocrisy and opportunism of the official rhetoric that makes it inevitable to give expression to testimonies of those who have a historical depth in regard to the sensational news of the moment.

Exploitation and neglect in the Trapani region

If you want a good idea of how the government manages immigration, just take a trip to the province of Trapani. As we have often said and reported, Trapani is the experimental laboratory in which the government tests out firsthand its policies towards migrants (since the Serraino Vulpitta).

Salina Grande - report 15/09/2012

Returning to Salina Grande after a couple of months away, it is immediately possible to notice that the atmosphere is much more tense than when were last here in June. In addition to the standard Carabinieri van, there are also a variety of military vehicles and one belonging to the Finance Police, all within the grounds of the structure. Police and soldiers can regularly be seen crossing the courtyard. It's not difficult to realise that the distressing atmosphere within the CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) is due to the heavy police and military presence, rather than the end of summer showers.

Unacceptable conditions at Salinagrande

Six beds per room, mattresses on the floor. This is how the migrants in Salingrande live. There are minors of just a few years of age, who are left in the care of other residents in the absence of their own parents.

The inadequacy of the asylum seeker's living conditions in Salinagrande can now be backed up with photos of the rooms as seen above. In a space of 10- 15 square metres, five or six people sleep. There are usually four camp beds plus two mattresses on the floor. One of the rooms in particular has been constantly flooded for the past six months, due to a burst pipe. Despite repeated complaints by the current occupants, every night two of the six must place their mattresses on the wet floor. 

Salinagrande, the Centre's migrants bear the signs of beatings

Report, 11th-15th May 2012

Right from the very beginning of our monitoring of the Salinagrande CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) we have noticed that the management and the employees of the Centre maintain a rather hostile stance particularly towards the Tunisian community. The fact that Tunisians are considered an "uncomfortable" migrant group in Italy is nothing new. It is largely due to the fact that they come from a context which has made them aware of their rights and made them inclined to make claims.

Salinagrande: repercussions for those who speak to professionals from outside the Centre

Overcrowding, alcoholism and depression amongst the migrants within the Centre.

A small piece of good news awaits us at Salinagrande. We meet an old acquaintance from earlier on in the year. He is a Pakistani asylum seeker, suffering from health problems, who, despite repeated requests to Caritas and the CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) itself, has been sleeping rough nearby for the past five months. Thanks to the organisation Emergency, who we had put him in contact with, he had finally had access to the medicine he needed and, a few days ago, was admitted to the CARA. He went to great lengths to thanks us, saying that his situation was much improved.

Salinagrande: twenty asylum seekers staying in shed-like structure with asbestos roof.

Woman, seven months pregnant, who has received no medical attention. Stories of violence from the Milo CIE (Immigration Detention Centre).

When we arrive in front of the CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) in Salinagrande, shortly after 1pm, the gates are closed and everything around the Centre seems deserted. Nonetheless, we are able to see the movements of the employees and police forces inside the Centre. There are very few migrants in the yard, they are probably still in the canteen. We only have to wait a few minutes, though, and we attract the attention of some of them. Two young Tunisians ask the guards if they can go out.  They want to know if we have come looking for workers. "Work? Work?" they ask us. We reply that we are from an association in Palermo and that we are in Trapani to collect some statements on the conditions of life inside the CARA. Straightaway, if a little anxiously, they begin to tell their stories. But as we are having trouble communicating in French, two of them go back inside and get a friend who speaks Italian well to act as interpreter for us.

Salinagrande CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) and Caritas Centre full, asylum seekers sleeping alongside railway tracks

It is the first day of our monitoring project at the CARA (Hosting Centre for Asylum Seekers) in Salinagrande (Trapani). We arrive around 7pm after a meeting with the local Anti-Racist organisations. There are not many migrants outside the gates. The running of the centre has now been taken over by the Cooperative Badia Grande, the same organisation which runs the CIE (Immigration Detention Centre) in Milo and compared to last year, surveillance has notably tightened. It's almost impossible to gain official access for the purposes of inspecting the situation. The gates are closed and the migrants can only go out one at a time. At the entrance there is a guard, an employee of the cooperative, who asks the migrants for identification before allowing them to enter back into the camp. There is a type of curfew at 8pm and anyone arriving after this time must spend the night elsewhere. From a first glance the CARA seems very crowded, in each of the rooms we can see, there are several people, clothes are hung at the windows and there are a number of migrants on the terrace, which is on the right hand side of the building. They go back inside soon after we arrive. We don't know if this is spontaneous or if they have been invited to do so by staff.