The Difficulties of the Reception System in Trapani

Requests for help have been coming in from people hosted in reception centres across Sicily, but over the past month such messages have been particularly concentrated in the province of Trapani. We understand this to be due to a number of factors, first and foremost the new contracts which have recently become active, and which have been awarded to entities with little experience in the reception business and cooperatives which have attempted to expand their activities by taking on several structures simultaneously (Extraordinary Reception Centres* as well as centres for minors and ones run by the central service in Rome*).

Young migrants in the Extraordinary Reception Centre 'Essarasya', San Miceli (Province of Trapani)

Campobello di Mazara: Precarious Agricultural Labour and Discrimination

Campobello di Mazara is one of the most important stops in the cycle of seasonal labour in Sicily. Between September and December each year around 1,300 farm workers come to the area in order to work in the olive harvest, the majority of them originally from Subsaharian Africa. The situation is complicated. Although workers have been camping out in one of the nearby fields – “Erbe Bianche”, ‘White Grass’ – for many years, since 2014 a further space has been added, surrounding the former olive processing plant, confiscated from the Mafia.

The camp at Erbe Blanche, Campobello di Mazara (Province of Trapani)

The Migrant Business: More Than €143,000 Per Day, Managed By An Archipelago Of Cooperatives

Palermo.repubblica.it – The former Regional Aide for Families, managed of the Ippocrate in Enna: “We're only left with €3 per resident.”

In front of the gates to the former hotel 'Canguro', the locals of Castell'Umberto point their fingers above all at them: the cooperatives. “They make money and we take the migrants” is the phrase passing through the crowd.

Migrants hosted at the hotel 'Sinatra' (Lapresse)

Out of Initial Reception, Into Mineo: What Future Awaits 18 Year Olds?

“Things are going better now, because they're going to transfer me soon.” 'A', originally from Ghana, turned 18 a few months ago. For the past year he has been living in one of the big centres of initial reception for unaccompanied foreign minors in the Province of Catania, though he asked us not to name it. We met each other here in June last year. He was very different from how he is now. It has been a year of pain, confusion, attempts at dialogue and small “victories”. One of these was signing up at school, something for which 'A' and a dozen other young men at the centre campaigned from the start. It was in fact at one of these 'protests' in the form of a letter sent to the centre's managers that we met him.

The CARA at Mineo

Don't Worry Dad, I'll Die Happy Because You're Alive At Least

I cannot but feel pain when confronted by the death of an innocent, and the thought that someone you love might lose their life in such an unjust way sends a long, cold shiver down your spine. The news that a father had to leave his small daughter dead at sea so as to try and save other lives during yet another maritime massacre, the harvest of murderous European policies, has disturbed me deeply. What can we possibly do to help a desperate father who has lost both wife and child?

San Michele di Ganzaria: The Story of a Daily Violence

“The situation here in San Michele is simply unsustainable, you have to help us do something.” It's the middle of July, and a city councillor in the small town of San Michele di Ganzaria, a few kilometres from Caltagirone, has contacted us in order to explain the conditions faced by a dozen minors who have recently been housed in a structure managed by the 'San Francesco' cooperative.

"Half a Human"

It is already 7 pm but the sun is still blazing. Not a single shadow on the highway that leads from the tiny city center of Marina di Modica to the heartland. In front of us, S. rides his bicycle with his backpack on. He is soaked in sweat and forced to to cover the distance to downtown Marina di Modica as quickly as possible. Since recently, he is accommodated with another 27 migrants in the new first reception center of the province of Ragusa. The cooperative Azione Sociale, which has operated the hotspot in Pozzallo until a month ago, manages this newly opened center as well as a new facility for migrants in Modica.

Ph. Lucia Borghi

That Old Hotel at Geraci Siculo

Geraci, famous for the clean waters which flow from the nearby springs, has been host to an Emergency Reception Centre (CAS*) since 2011. During the North African emergency, the owners of the old Ventimiglia hotel decided to change profession and the hoteliers/restaurant owners became instead a coop which – first under state protection, and then with the Prefecture – manages an Emergency Reception Centre. And despite the fact that since 2011 the situation has remained unchanged both in terms of numbers and dynamics, in Geraci Siculo there is still an overwhelming climate of 'emergency', thanks to a state which looks the other way and abandons those have decided to live within the reception system.

The Reception System for Minors is Called HELL

In Sicily we have a constant feeling of total despair in relation to the practices of institutional actors, those who are meant to protect people, particularly minors, in line with national and international regulations.

Boys On The Outside

It's not only the title of a celebrated film by Marco Risi, but the situation lived out today by a vast number of young men and women who arrive on our coasts or who have remained for a long time in the Extraordinary Reception Centres (CAS*).

Last week we visited four such centres and met the residents from two centres for unaccompanied minors.

Foto Alberto Biondo

The SPRAR (protection facilities for asylum seekers and refugees) of Aidone’s municipality

We get to know the SPRAR of Aidone’s municipality through an unpredictable meeting with some beneficiaries in a street of the small town centre.
They tell us that their biggest problem is the denial of the application for international protection: they have arrived in Italy in June 2014, had the personal hearing with the competent Territorial Commission in September 2015 and received the decision last December. Therefore, after 18-19 months waiting, they are again at the beginning. In view of the audition with the Territorial Commission for the asylum application, they have been assisted by the legal consulent who collaborates with the project and gave them information at their arrival.

Visit to a SPRAR* for minors at Vittoria. How long will you be able to stay in Italy?

Last week, after a brief visit last year, we returned to the SPRAR for minors in Vittoria, in the province of Ragusa. The structure is managed by the cooperative Nostra Signora di Gulfi and comprises an apartment which hosts up to 13 people and a housing unit with 8 places, separated from this, which is reserved for young adults previously housed in the central structure.

The Cas/Sprar of piazza Armerina managed by the association Don Bosco 2000

On May 25, we have been invited to visit the reception centre of Piazza Armerina managed by the association Don Bosco 2000, which has 46 accommodation places for first reception and further 50 places as part of the SPRAR* project. The association Don Bosco 2000 has been active in the field of reception since 2001 and currently manages also another reception project in the city of Aidone (EN).

Migrants‘ assistance workers without being paid for months. Palazzotto (Sel): "But Sol. Calatino has received the funds".

by Meridionews

No Salaries, in some cases for over a year, for workers who deal with migrants‘ 

assistance in the Catanese area. In one case, even so the cooperatives that manage the service have successfully received payments of local and national institutions. To report the case is the Parliamentary Sel Erasmus Palazzotto, with an interrogation of the Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. Two are the entities mentioned in the document: the Sprar* of Vizzini and the IPAB* of Catania.

The refugee reception centres in the Madonie (Palermo) – part 1

Refugees are left be to themselves
The cooperative Badia Grande manages the protection facilities for asylum seekers and refugees (SPRAR) in Petralia Soprana, Petralia Sottana, Blufi, Polizzi Generosa, Castellana Sicula and Gangi. The municipality Petralia Soprana, in cooperation with other municipalities, has been assigned to administrate 90 seats for the next three years (2014-2016) in the tender. In addition to the cooperative, the project was accompanied by Don Librizzi (Regional Director of Caritas at that time).
If you look more closely in the protection facilities for asylum seekers and refugees, it becomes more and more apparent that asylum seekers are left to themselves, and that there is only one reference person in the centre. This support for asylum seekers is the sporadic presence of the social worker, i.e. usually twice a week. While two social workers are responsible for two centres, two other social workers work together in a reception centre.

The refugee reception centres in the Madonie (Palermo) – part 2

The two faces of the reception of refugees in Geraci Siculo
In the nursing home Parri Vecchio SRL (LTD), about 40 applicants are accommodated for international protection. When I arrived in the early afternoon, no one answered the door. Downstairs, I meet seven seniors sitting on chairs aligned along the wall, and rest. The sleeping young man on the sofa seems to be the only potential employee. After I woke him up, I try explaining to him who I am and what I do. The man is from Romania and takes care of the elderly. He speaks neither Italian nor English well, and he only understands that I am involved in immigration.

Migrants in the area of ​​Catania treated like "hostages": "We are prisoners treated like animals"

We post the video of the daily newspaper "La Repubblica" showing the testimony of a group of asylum seekers who are housed in a SPRAR of Grammichele. The serious facts arraigned in this video confirm the criticisms that have been collected by our staff in the past few days. "They call us disgusting nigger and when they give us something to eat, they tell us that we are animals". For eleven months, there are about 20 migrants in isolation in SPRAR of Grammichele managed by the Association San Francesco 4th October. They wait for their asylum application to be examined by the competent Commission. Following a tip from Borderline Sicilia, "La Repubblica" went into the camp in which the migrants have no water for four days. "We are dirty and have to wash ourselves." Among the migrants housing in the facility, there are also young men in need for medical care. "There has never been a doctor in here and we have no money to buy medicine. We are afraid. We live in a prison. "(video by Allessandro Puglia)

Migrants’ protest in Caltagirone: general frustration for the never-ending delay.

Since several days the guests of the SPRAR centre “Il Geranio”, located in via Rosario Pitrelli, in a big villa strategically placed far away from the residential area, are protesting to obtain news concerning the advancement of their refugee status request. In answer to this protest, the mayor Nicola Bonanno, and the assessor to Social Services, Chiara Gulizia, sent a document asking to remove 11 Nigerian citizens, who presumably instigated the protest, fomenting also the other guests of the centre. A few miles away, the migrants of the SPRAR of Grammichele, blocked up garbage containers in the street towards contrada “Bisamore”. The SPRAR of Grammichele is managed by the cooperative “ San Francesco – 4 ottobre” which together with “Il Geranio” are part of the big family of the consortium “Il Sol.co”. These news were published in the newspaper “La Sicilia”, the 6th of September. Apparently migrants showed their frustration and demonstrated against the very long delay to obtain information concerning their request; the missed delivery of the monthly pocket money (46.50 € per month) and also against the inedible food supplied to them.

After landing: Staying in Italy between time-consuming beurocracy transfers

By now we read daily news about the landing of immigrants on the Sicilian shores and elsewhere. These episodes must be accurately monitored and analysed. Above all they must be considered as an example of what happened before and what happens after the media spotlight turns off. Following immigrants pathways once they land is not easy, even those who apply for international protection and are therefore included in the reception and protection system.
The ongoing state of emergency engenders instability in immigrants placement and is characterized by frequent transfers. These transfers are decided depending on necessities other than speeding up the immigrant’s asylum request process or the integration in our country. Despite their continuous transfers, immigrants are sometime able to establish relationships with the locals: they leave phone numbers;  they build small but resistant networks depending on their luck and possibilities.

The Everlasting Emergency: Centres for Extraordinary Reception (CAS)

As we have argued time and time again, the emergency management of migration is not solely aggravated by the alarming state of reception in governmental centres and sorting structures: we must add to this the issue of informal centres, the so-called Centres for Extraordinary Reception (CAS), whose number is growing, and whose reception more often than not is only limited to food and accommodation.