Those Who Die, Those Who Arrive and Those Who Remain: The Overcrowded Hotspots at Pozzallo

“What Europe just doesn't understand is that for migrants arriving in Libya it's less risky to try and escape across the sea that to try and go back to their home countries”, says A., a young Senegalese man who arrived in Italy two years ago. Like many of his countrymen, he's following the rescue operations on the TV, shot through with a sense of momentary relief between the powerlessness and rage. “Anyone who hasn't been in Libya cannot imagine what it means to live there. Every European has a mobile, in the same way every Libyan, however old, walks around with a gun in his hand. But no one in Italy wants to hear about this.”

The Voices of Those Who Are Thrown Back by the Walls and a Lethal Indifference

In these muggy August days we have been reading tales of violence meted out on migrants in various ways: from the politician who comes up with a decree to prevent acts of solidarity extended to migrants asking for food, to teenagers who have died from the crushing effects of a society which remains indifferent to their attempts to reach their parents, all the way up to the shameful punitive deportations of the migrants living throughout many Italian cities. The climate we are living through is the result of a growing institutional racism, one which both creates and legitimates violence, which raises walls – and, above all, kills, because the sea continues to wash bodies up on the shores. The last 5 such bodies on August 21^st.

Meeting between associations and institutions in Catania on the issue of refoulement

In front of the repeating practice of deferred refoulement that has occurred in several provinces of Sicily since the end of September, the association Borderline Sicilia became the spokesperson for numerous associations from Catania and asked for a meeting with the prefect and the superintendent in order to obtain explanations on what is happening.

Present at the meeting that has been held yesterday were representatives of the associations Borderline Sicilia, Rete Antirazzista Catanese, Centro Astalli,

Arci Catania, Asgi sez. Sicilia, Arci Catania, Catania bene comune, as well as the deputy-prefect responsible for immigration, the responsible of the prefecture for disembarkations, and the chief of the Office for Immigration of the Police.

The arrivals continue at Lampedusa. Survivors’ testimonies of the shipwreck of 11 October, "the Libyans shot at us"

Lampedusa is still receiving new arrivals of migrants, mainly from Syria and the Horn of Africa but also from some West African countries, particularly Ghana. Nights ago migrants arrived at the Favaloro pier, transported by Coast Guard patrol boats. The 14 migrants from Somalia and Eritrea were found in the hold of a boat that was taking on water off the coast of Libya. Some of the Somalis who arrived in Lampedusa recounted that all the other fleeing migrants had been transferred from their boat into an unidentified ship with Libyan personnel and Bengalese, to be taken back to Libya. These 14 had been the exception since they had been physically unable to climb up onto the deck from the hold where they were later found. They were abandoned at sea, until the Italian patrols spotted them.

Conference "Administrative Detention and Forced Removal following the 2008/115/CE Directive on Repatriations"

Palermo, Aula Sturzo, Piazza Bologni 8
Programme:
Welcome
Prof. Aldo Schiavello, Coordinator of the Research Doctorate in “Human Rights: protection, evolution, limits”
Introduction to the Work
Dr. Judith Gleitze from borderline-europe/Borderline Sicilia Onlus
Presentation of the Conference
Prof. Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo (University of Palermo) From the Directive on Repatriations 2008/115/CE to the norms concerning the enforcement of the Italian Order in the case of Forced Removals and Administrative Detention.

Migrants transferred from Lampedusa but Thursday's survivors stay

While search and rescue operations continue in the sea between Lampedusa and Lampione for survivors of last Thursday's sinking, those already on the island of Lampedusa continue to be transferred to other destinations. Yesterday evening, a group of 17 Tunisians who arrived on Lampedusa in the last couple of days, were sent to the hangar in the Port of Pozzallo to await repatriation. The Ragusan CSPA (First Reception Centre) is therefore still being used to all extents and purposes as a Centre of Identification and Expulsion, despite not possessing the legal status to operate in this way.

Bereavement for the dead, collective refoulements for the living

By Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo
The latest tragedy hit waters near the small uninhabited island of Lampione to the west of Lampedusa. Facing the Tunisian ports of Mahdia and Monastir, it is the first strip of Italian soil that can be reached from north Africa. Despite all the confusion surrounding this tragedy, it now seems clear that the control and rescue operations, initially deployed in an area covering up to 60 miles south of Lampedusa, are now being carried out only in close proximity to the Pelagie islands.

Pozzallo Migrant Riots - 5 injured

Once again, another riot at the CSPA (First Reception Centre) in the port of Pozzallo. At around 11am, a group of migrants began protesting. The cause of the tension, as far as we know, was the news of a likely repatriation. Two security officers and three migrants were injured during the riot. It has been reported by workers within the centre that the situation had been tense since the previous day.

Lampedusa: b4p and LampedusaInFestival (part 3)

Yesterday, 19th July, the 4th edition of LampedusaInFestival opened. All was made possible by the tireless and precious work of Askavusa, in collaboration with several other associations. The festival opened with the inauguration of a show of cartoon drawings on migration with works by artists of various different countries. Following straight on from this, Lorenzo Pezzani presented the project Watch the Med 

 https://watchthemed.crowdmap.com/, whose main objective is to "control the controllers" by allowing anyone who has information about migrants in the sea to bring it to public attention by posting it online in real time.

Pozzallo, arrival by boat of 40 migrants from Central Africa. Currently housed in a gym, possibilty of repatriation.

Forty migrants, thought to be Eritrean and Somalian were last night intercepted off the Pozzallo coast in the Province of Ragusa. They were aboard a speed boat which was rescued by the coast guard. The migrants were then temporarily housed in a gym in Pozzallo.
After the migrants had been identified and registered, the Modica carabinieri said, "it remains to be seen if they will be transferred to a reception centre or if they will be sent to Catania to be repatriated, we should know in the next couple of hours."

video: expulsion of immigrants who arrived by boat in Catania

The 115 migrants from Egypt, who arrived at the port of Catania on 27th June, were immediately transferred to the underground gym in the school A. Doria in Via Cordai, San Cristoforo. Within 24 hours, all minors had been moved on to reception centres, whilst the adults had all been sent back to Egypt in yet another violation of human and civil rights.

Arrival of migrants in the port of Catania: all adults illegally deported back to Egypt

As we had feared, the day the migrants were "accommodated" started badly during the night and finished in the worst possible scenario: after a day of waiting for the identification process to be completed, members of the CIR (Italian Council for Refugees) and the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) left last night after being told to return this morning on the reassurance from members of Digos (Italian special investigations police) that they would finally be able to provide the migrants with the necessary information to proceed with applications for asylum. The 52 minors were accompanied to various reception centres for minors which was nonetheless a slow process due to the lack of interpreters and cultural mediators available.

Migrants repatriated from Catania. The Anti-Racist Network denounces the suspension of human rights

Patrizia Maltese in Primo Piano                    
"Another shameful deportation and hurried collective expulsion indicative of the worst type of police state."
This is how the Catania Anti-Racist Network defined the operation that took place in the night in Catania and which took the 53 adult migrants (3 of whom were Coptic Christians intending to claim asylum) back to Egypt from where they had escaped. The 52 minors who had arrived with them were instead accompanied to various reception centres in the area to await the decisions of the Juvenile Court. The Anti-Racist Network denounce the operation on two counts: firstly, for the slowness caused by the absence of interpreters and cultural mediators; and secondly, according to the Network, for the fact that representatives from the CIR (Italian Council for Refugees) and the UNHCR (United Nations High Council for Refugees) left after having been reassured by Digos that the following day, "it would be possible to provide the migrants with the necessary information to apply for asylum".

Refusals of Entry- even according to the Public Prosecution Office of Syracuse, they were violent

Immigrants, pm: "Refusal of Entry and the sending of migrants to Lybia is violence"
The Public Prosecution Office in Syracuse orders the trial of Rodolfo Ronconi, Director of Police for Immigration and Vincenzo Carrrarini, General of the Finance Police.
"They didn't respect the Italian norms regarding the arrival of refugees." 75 irregular migrants refused entry.
The law of our country applies throughout the whole of the nation. A boat belonging to the Finance Police is still Italian territory. Anyone who boards that boat has the right to apply for refuge. It is under this pretext that the Public Prosecution Office of Syracuse has ordered the trial of Rodolfo Ronconi and Vincenzo Carrarini. The Director of Police for Immigration and the General of Border Control must answer to their role in inflicting duress. They are accused of the refusal of entry of 75 irregular migrants who arrived in the night between the 30th and 31st August 2009. The non-Europeans who were intercepted in international waters, were made to climb aboard the ship Denaro and taken to Lybia.

The European Court condemns Italy for its refusals of entry. But with the new Lybia will things really change?

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg has condemned Italy for it refusal of entry policy which has seen migrants sent to Lybia. It was 6th May 2009 when the Italian patrol vessels were given the order for the first time, to obstruct the course of the arriving boats. They were to take the ships which they had intercepted at sea 35 miles south of Lampedusa, to Lybia. There, the Lybian police were waiting for the boats in the harbour at Tripoli, with a container lorry ready to load the migrants on to, and transport them as animals are, to various prisons around the country. On board one of the patrol vessels was the photo- journalist, Enrico Dagnino, who reported on the violence of the operation. He was then censured.