Young People, Little Protection: From Landing to Turning Eighteen. The Situation in Some Centres in Eastern Sicily

For a few months, the Hotspot at Pozzallo has included a container for “welcoming” children and families. A space is “dedicated” to those who are meant to only be passing through the Hotspot after the landing, but in reality they are frequently illegally and lengthily detained, a fact which has now become “normal and inevitable.” The situation is submissively accepted by some of the organisations that ought to be defending the rights of migrants but in fact continually fail to report violations of those rights, more concerned as they are to obtain a piece of the pie within the system than protect and safeguard the new arrivals.

Oxfam, Borderline Sicilia, Doctors For Human Rights: “Abuse, Torture and Illegal Detention in the Libyan Hell”

A new report reveals the daily brutality suffered by migrants in Libya at the hands of local militia, human traffickers and criminal gangs. It represents an urgent call to revoke the deal between Italy and Libya and for a change in direction of the EU's policies on controlling the flow of migrants.

Landing in Sicily. Photo: Alessandro Rota, Oxfam

Minors in the Pozzallo Hotspot. On the “unwelcoming” road.

“I arrived a month ago, after having been in Sudan and for months in Libya. On arrival I was locked in a large room with hundreds of other people, many of them my age, others older. There were also women and children. They gave me a change of clothes and a telephone card, saying that soon I would be transferred to a centre for minors. A month passed and I'm still here.” This is the story of 'Y', a 16-years-old Eritrean man, describing the reality experienced by hundreds of minors detained like him in an illegitimate way for weeks or even months within the Hotspot at Pozzallo. Dozens of minors who arrived in the nearby port have been housed without recognition of their age, in conditions of overcrowding and psychological stress within the centre, and without having received and personal assistance.

Lampedusa: The Protests End But The Violations Continue

Up until yesterday the Hotspot at Lampedusa held around 380 people (including a dozen women). The number of unaccompanied minors was hovering around 90 people, among whom there were five young Nigerian women and girls, who arrived on the island on the same day that a fire rendered an entire building in the Contrada Imbriacola centre uninhabitable.

Pozzallo: the detention of minors in the Hotspot continues. A farcical release on the occasion of Italian President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini's visit.

Yesterday evening Senator Manconi gained access to the Hotspot at Pozzallo, accompanied by representatives from Caritas and ARCI*, all of whom were present in the city due to the international festival Sabir. This came after months of countless journalists, both national and international, being refused from entering by the Ministry, who provided the excuse of organisation problems. This has been an extremely serious situation as it has not permitted observation and recognition of the serious violations perpetrated within the centre for months and years.

Unaccompanied minors at Pozzallo: for weeks inside the hotspot

The last disembarking at the harbour of Pozzallo dates back to February 24th with the arrival of 313 migrants on board of the ship Diciotti belonging to the Coast Guard. Amongst these there were 33 unaccompanied minors who added up to a lot of others arriving in the previous days, in a week that has seen a sequence of numerous arrivals.

Minor voices

Yesterday another catastrophe happened on the Turkish coast that cost many lives, when refugees tried desperately to flee violence and a sure death in the hope to get to a place where the struggle for daily survival is not an issue. Among those who died are more and more children, so that the media increasingly focuses on them. Images of pain and grief that should be met with respectful silence and serious self-reflection are instead used to stir pity and sell newspapers full of articles that do everything except for sharing correct information.

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.