Illegal Immigration on Lampedusa

Structure:

1 ) Facts about the island of Lampedusa

2 ) Illegal Immigrants- facts and numbers

3 ) A typical nightmarish trip to Lampedusa

4 ) Refugee Camp Lampedusa

5 ) Pros and cons for the immigrants

6 ) Effects of illegal immigration for the island

7 ) Policies

8 ) Conclusion

 

Today (4.11.08), Anke and I conceived a structure for our presentation. We devided the subitems and decided who has to work out which point. After this important decision, everyone of us searched independently for information on the internet. In the next weeks, I will devote myself to the points 1) to 4) of the structure, whereas Anke will deal with the rest (points 5 to 8).

 

General facts:

 

·         the largest of the Pelagie Islands

·         located between Tunisia and Sicily

·         belongs to the region Sicily (province Agrigent)

·         most southern part of Italy

·         about 20 km²

·         main town ‘Lampedusa’

·         2005: ~ 4.500 residing on Lampedusa (tourist season: 10.000)

·         Main source of income: tourism, fishing, production of preserved fish

·         belongs geographically to Africa -> hot climate

·         outpost of the Italian authorities -> retaining illegal immigrants on their way to Europe

 

 

 

 

 

Illegal immigrants- facts and numbers

• Since Spain has sealed off its southern border, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla forbid every passage, Lampedusa is European’s first shelter for refugees from Africa.
• inhabitants of Lampedusa call the refugees “Disgraziati” (= “unhappy people”)
• On Lampedusa, first and forth world meet -> contrast: tourist boats and the rotten and squalid boats of the refugees
• In warm months, when the sea is calm, daily arrival of immigrants with boats
• 90 % of all immigrants arriving Italy over the sea, go ashore on Lampedusa.
• Above all, the immigrants from Africa, but also from the Near and the Mid East
• Reasons for the escape: mostly the crises in Somalia, Eritrea and in Sudan, civil wars, tyrannies, hunger and hopelessness
• More and more refugees arrive in a poor health: Often they have injuries, burnings of the petrol of the boat engines, heat strokes or are badly dried out due to the lack of drinkable water
• Hundreds of refugees don’t survive the trip due to dehydration or exhaustion
• 2008: the Refugee Council (Flüchtlingsrat) officially registered 649 dead boat people on the coast of Lampedusa. The real number is much higher but it is unknown how many boats sank unnoticed
• On the whole, about 10.000 immigrants died in the last century during their trip to Lampedusa
• The number of the people fleeing to Lampedusa increased:

-2003: 8.000 refugees

– 2004: already 13.000

– in the first 9 month of 2008: in fact more than 23.000 refugees arrived on Lampedusa

• The transport of the refugees over the sea has even become a kind of industry
• Only a third of the in 2008 arrived immigrants made application for asylum (granted in 65% of the cases)
• Currently, there are 35.000 refugees with right to permanent residence in Italy
• All those to who asylum isn’t granted, receive a departure notification (Ausreisebescheid). But: the deportation camps are overcrowded and many of the immigrants’ countries of origin aren’t willing to reaccept the refugees
• -> almost all refugees stay in Europe, the majority in Italy: A lot of them take up jobs, the Italians don’t want to do anymore, for example in the agriculture or the industry
• -> a life in illegality: Some even ‘slide’ into prostitution or criminality

 

A typical nightmarish trip to Lampedusa

Example of the 25 year old Abraha from Eritrea (mentioned in the newspaper article we worked on), who arrived 2 days ago and was brought into the detention centre of Lampesua:

• 1 year ago he started his trip to Europe.
• Initially, he just reached Khartum (the capital of Susan) due to the lack of money. He found no job and had 6 months to wait until he was brought by a truck with 100 other refugees to Libya.
• It was a horrible trip: Gangs attacked them, women were robbed and raped.
• In Libya, Abraha was stuck again: he first had to earn 1000 Dollar for the smugglers (on average, smugglers charge between 1000 and 3000 Dollar)
• -> 3 Months he worked illegally and cleaned cars like many other refugees.
• when he had enough money, the smugglers took him along to the coast: the journey lasted 30 hours, it was very hot and they were dreadfully hungry.
• It took them 2 days to Lampedusa with a rotten boat (relatively less compared to other trips of refugees)
• Here, Abraha stops to tell about his trip but I will continue by telling how it normally proceeds:

 

• After their arrival, the refugees are received by coast guards
• people Red Cross help the weak and the injured persons and calm the people
• most often a bus arrives and takes the people to the Detention Centre of Lampedusa
• Here, they are medicated, the police makes photos and takes fingerprints of them, they get clothes, washing things and telephone cards
• people from the UN-refugee relief organisation work in the Detention Centre of Lampedusa: they inform the refugees about the asylum law and convey their applications
• After a few days, the refugees are flown out to other centres in Italy

 

Detention Centre Lampedusa

• In 2005, a journalist of the magazine “L’Espresso”, Fabrizio Gatti, lived 8 days disguised as Kurdish refugee in the Detention Centre on Lampedusa
• he kept a diary which he published -> incredible grievances were uncovered
• In his diary, the journalist reports how the refugees were horribly abused and humiliated during the examination by the police.(example: a Tunisian who had to stand for hours naked in front of a policeman although he already shivered with cold)
• the hygienic conditions were catastrophic
• just salt water, no doors, no toilet paper, electricity or privacy
• no refugee was brought before a judge although this is an obligation according to Italian law
• After the exposure of the scandal: examinations were launched to affirm the accusations
• Italian immigration policies were criticized and the detention centre was even compared to a concentration camp
• -> the government was forced to change something: they closed the detention centre
• In 2007: opening of the new detention centre “Centro di Accoglienza”:
• the nee centre is bright, clean and modern, has phone boxes, a playground for the kids and does by no means resemble a prison
• 12 refugees share a bedroom and all rooms have an air conditioner and a heater

 

• Summer 2008: Although it has space for maximal 850 refugees, for a long time more than 1500 refugees (temporary even 2000) stayed in the centre ->renewed problem
• overcrowded centre caused again miserable hygienic conditions: showers full of urine, dirt and rubbish
• many refugees had to sleep on mattresses outside the rooms

->The problem around the Detention Centre Lampedusa is not yet solved

 

 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampedusa

http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/italien-drama-vor-lampedusa_aid_334737.html

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/939/303918/text/

http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/fluechtlinge140.html

http://no-racism.net/article/1384/

www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1718149,00.html

 

1. 

   Theo Said:

   on November 26, 2008 at 6:24 pm

   Hi Maren & Anke,

   you two are having interesting issues on your blogs, – its a nice variety. Continue this!
   In your Lampedusa post you strife the dimension of the continuing migration of people from the Northern parts of Africa trying to enter Europe by mentioning that Human trafficking has become some sort of industry.
   After the Civil-War in former Yugoslavia we already witnessed “organized” Human trafficking from Albania and Kosovo via Montenegro to Italy and in response the European Union initiated so called “Transit-Processing-Centers” in Croatia. Lacking French colonial experience Mr Shilly, the then German Minister of Interior, proposed in 2005 similar camps in North African Nations.
   It would be very kind if you could get me some data about numbers of refugees who fled from Dafur via Libya.
2. 

   donath@ulricianum Said:

   on December 10, 2008 at 3:48 pm

   Super piece of work, Maren, and thus was yor presentation 🙂
   dt

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