Nella provincia di Ragusa i cittadini reagiscono all’ultima tragedia dell’immigrazione.

Il 17 novembre, a largo della costa ragusana, tra Pozzallo e Sampieri in Sicilia, un barcone con oltre 200 persone è naufragato a cuasa delle pessime condizioni atmosferiche. I migranti a bordo hanno cercato di salvarsi nuotando verso la riva, ma molti hanno perso la vita nel tentativo di raggiungere la costa. Per il momento il conto dei cadaveri resi dal mare è di 25 persone, ma il numero è destinato a salire.

I cittadini della provincia di Ragusa, indignati ancora una volta dall’ennesima tragedia, vogliono far sentire la loro voce e hanno organizzato una marcia verso la spiaggia di Pozzallo che si terrà giorno 1 Dicembre in segno di rispetto verso le vittime e di protesta verso l’indifferenza e il silenzio che ha avvolto questa tragedia.

I numerosi cittadini, le associazioni e le organizzazioni firmatarie di un documento ufficiale protestano anche contro il trattamento degli immigrati che sono arrivati in vita a Pozzallo, ai quali sono state tolte scarpe e cinture per prevenire potenziali fughe.

Ma questa vicenda apre degli interrogativi ancora più gravi a livello Europeo, specialmente nelle relazioni fra Malta, l’Italia e la Regione Sicilia in materia di immigrazione.

Infatti, il barcone con a bordo gli immigrati era stato intercettato dalle motovedette maltesi e secondo la versione riportata dalla stampa locale i migranti hanno rifiutato i soccorsi, proseguendo verso la Sicilia. Le autorità maltesi hanno comunicato a quelle italiane l’arrivo dell’imbarcazione, ma il rimorchiatore partito dal porto di Pozzallo per prestare soccorso, dovette rientrare alla base immediatamente a causa del mare Forza 7 e delle fortissime raffiche di vento da Nord Ovest.

Chiramente, come scrive la stampa locale “la scelta delle autorità maltesi di lasciare proseguire il barcone carico di immigrati, nonostante il mare in tempesta, è destinata a suscitare polemiche.� (LA SICILIA 18 Novembre 2005)

Nonostante, il 18 Novembre, il sottosegretario alla Difesa maltese Toni Abela, abbia puntualizzato che il barcone «era in acque internazionali» e che gli immigrati «hanno rifiutato i soccorsi» e quindi le autorità Maltesi non erano responsabili, rimane la questione morale che concerne tanto il governo Maltese, quanto quello Italiano e l’Europa tutta.

La gente di Ragusa non si rassegna a spiegazioni formali e al silenzio della stampa nazionale, il 1° Dicembre raggiunta la spiaggia deporrà un mazzo di fiori per ricordare le vittime del 17 Novembre 2005, perchè l’indifferenza uccide e distrugge ogni speranza di miglioramento.

I have been away from the blog for a while, the main reason is that I am working to two book chapters and revising some articles which have a similar deadline, this leaves no wish for further typing on my computer.

Obviously, I have been following the riots in France and the different reactions and interpretations given by the press, politicians and experts.

Here I copy the analysis of Prof. Danièle Joly, who was my PhD supervisor. She is the director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick and is an expert on the subject. This is what she wrote for the Warwick University Media Log:

Non scrivo sul blog da qualche giorno. Sto lavorando a due capitoli per due testi diversi e sto rivedendo alcuni articoli che hanno una scadenza molto ravvicinata e questo lascia poca voglia di scrivere ulteriormente al computer.

Chiaramente ho seguito i fatti riguardanti l’esplosione di violenza nelle periferie di alcune città francesi, soffermandomi su alcune reazioni ed interpretazioni della stampa, dei politici e di alcuni esperti.
Qui vi rimando alla breve ed efficace analisi della Prof.ssa Daniele Joly, mia relatrice durante il dottorato di ricerca, che conosce il problema molto a fondo.
Lei dirige attualmente il CRER, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations presso l’ Università di Warwick. Qui leggete le dichiarazioni da lei rilasciate al Warwick University Media Log:

Rioting in France

Two decades after the riots which set fire to the main British cities and shook the British Establishment, France is confronted with a similar scenario, apparently much to the surprise of media and politicians. In reality, this conflagration was waiting to happen.

The situation of ethnic minority youth in disadvantaged suburbs displayed all the ingredients necessary for a violent upsurge; in those suburbs, French society was sitting on a barrel of powder and a single spark triggered off the explosion.

The youth of immigrant origin involved in the disturbances suffer from a double jeopardy. All the indices of poverty and deprivation are present while unemployment and school underachievement condemn them to a bleak future. Moreover, the social disadvantage they endure is further compounded by racial disadvantage, racism and discrimination. The promises of the Republican contract were never delivered for their benefit; on the contrary, the colour blindness of French policies and the dearth of effective tools to identify and challenge rampant discrimination have meant that the liberty, fraternity and equality they were urged to aspire to, remained unattainable. Stigmatisation and the non-recognition of their cultural specificity added insult to injury, resulting into the denial of justice and dignity. The violence expressed is commensurate with the frustration caused by thwarted expectations. The law and order approach pursued by the government could only enflame the situation further, all the more as perceptions of police racism prevail among those youths. The lack of hope, meaning and positive projects has led a demoralised and embittered population, deprived of a stake in society to rampage through French cities. The current discourse of government ministers, laden with threats of a police crackdown is a testimony of their failure to grasp the problems involved or to offer any constructive proposal.

Daniele Joly
Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations
University of Warwick

6–11-2005

Qualche giorno fa, dopo aver scritto del Border Film Project, ho deciso di contattare Brett Huneycutt, Rudy Adler and Victoria Criado, gli ideatori ed organizzatori del progetto. Volevo capire meglio alcuni aspetti del progetto e ho inviato loro le mie domande. Ecco le loro risposte in inglese.

When I wrote about the Border Film Project, few days ago, I decided I wanted to know more about it and got in touch with Brett Huneycutt, Rudy Adler and Victoria Criado who are the people behind it. I asked them a few questions and here are their interesting answers.

1. How did the idea of the project developed?

While shooting a documentary about immigration issues and the Minuteman Project this summer, we found ourselves unable to capture the actual journey of migrants crossing through the desert. One day, we were filming a young mother and her three children at a migrant
house in Altar, a Mexican town 60 miles south of the border. We tried to warn them of the dangers they were going to encounter in the coming days, but our words fell on deaf ears. Before leaving, Victoria dug through her purse, looking for a piece of candy or toy for one of the
young daughters. Unable to find anything, we began joking about giving the little girl our camera equipment. And then we stopped joking and thought “Wait, we cant give her our video camera, but we could give her a small picture camera.”

2. How did you manage to organise it?

We just went out and bought hundreds of disposable cameras. We knew we could only hope for about 10-20% of the cameras back given the situation, so it became a numbers game. We packaged them in stamped, pre-addressed envelopes, set up a PO Box in Scottsdale, Arizona to receive the cameras, and drove to migrant houses along the entire border and explained the project to migrants that were days, and sometimes hours, away from crossing. We got an amazing response. Many times the demand for cameras exceeded the amount we had in the car. We also devised an economic incentive scheme of those that participated.
In each envelope, we included a gift card (to a major US retailer with locations along the border) with a zero balance. When we receive cameras back, all we have to do is look up the camera number in our database, and put $50 on that card for the migrant to use. That way,
the migrant stays anonymous and doesn’t have to reveal his or her contact info.

3. What do you hope to achieve with it?

Our original goal was to show ordinary Americans with little knowledge of immigration issues what that journey looks like through the eyes of the migrant. But after distributing hundreds of cameras, we realized that the people most likely to come out to the exhibit to see the
photos will be those that already care about these issues, and for us, that kind of defeated the purpose of the project. So in order to widen the audience, we distributed cameras to the Minuteman volunteers and asked them to document their lives on the border. It seemed like a
natural extension of the project. And we really wanted to try and bridge some of the imaginary gaps that we saw between opposing sides of the immigration debate. The immigration issue is very complex and we found that groups on opposing sides of the debate should listen to
each other more because they might be surprised where their arguments intersect. The truth usually falls in the middle. We found the often-criticized Minutemen to be genuinely interesting people. We wanted to do a project that would unite people, not divide them.
People shut you off if you try to tell them what to believe. Michael Moore is completely ineffective now in creating an environment for any real change. We present both sides and let people make up their own mind.

4. What kind of response have you had so far from the two groups involved?

We have had a lot of support. We hope to donate the proceeds of the event to all of the photographers.

5. In which galleries are you planning to show the final pictures?

We would like to make the show as widespread as possible and are looking to display the pictures at art galleries throughout the United States, Mexico and all over the world if possible. To date, galleries in Boston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Omaha, Oxford, San Salvador, and Paris
have expressed interest in the show.

6. Would you consider bringing the pictures to Europe as well?

Absolutely. We would love to do a European Tour of the pictures. We just need an invitation.

Well, I hope the exibition in Oxford and Paris will be confirmed soon and many other galleries in Europe will show their interest too.

I have been involved as a country expert for Malta in the project POLITIS- Building Europe with New Citizens? An Inquiry into the Civic Participation of Naturalised Citizens and Foreign Residents in 25 Countries.

It was an interesting experience and I am glad I was involved especially because the project, which is still ongoing, combines academic background research with a strong empirical dimension, which I really appreciate.

The project explored the positive potential of immigrants for the development of an active European society, starting with foreign students’ perceptions of Europe and focusing on sustained social and political activities of immigrants. Indeed, one of the main goals was that of understanding when and why temporary migrants and permanent immigrants from third countries become active in the receiving societies, what influences their choice of activity, and which factors promote or inhibit immigrant activism.

In total 25 country experts were involved to prepare Country Reports on Immigrant Civic Participation for all 25 EU Member States. The reports present information on national migration, integration policy, and civic participation and offer, for the
first time, a systematic and dense information source for all 25 member states on these
issues. They can be downloaded from the POLITIS’s website

But what makes the project even more interesting is the fact that it also promoted the participation of student researchers recruiting and training more than 70 students and young researchers from 40 different countries around the world. They took part in a Summer School in Greece in July 2005 where they were trained on issues relating to EU immigration, intercultural dialogue, civic participation, and interview techniques. Their task now is to identify civically active immigrants and to interview them. In this way they can participate in the effort to cover a wide variety of immigrant experiences across all EU Member States. They will also participate in a second summer school in Germany in July 2006, discussing preliminary results of the interview analysis and other material. From autumn 2006, the project coordinators aim at disseminating results not only in academic publications, but also with the wider community in as many EU countries as possible.

In my case, working on the Malta report was particularly interesting as there is almost no literature at all on the issue of “immigration to Malta�, as opposed to the many studies available on “emigration from Malta�. The study involved fieldwork and a study of primary sources concerning a country that joined the EU just in May 2004, is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and has recently become a receiving country for migrants. All attributes that make Malta a country of particular interest from the point of view of migration research.

The whole project is funded by the European Commission (DG Research) in Brussels.

Three research institutes are working together in the POLITIS project:
• the University of Oldenburg, Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Bildung und Kommunikation in Migrationsprozessen
• the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) in Athens; and,
• the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
The Churches’ Commission of Migrants in Europe (CCME) in Brussels is a European NGO with links to churches and migrant organisations. As a forth partner, it consults the research partners and promotes the dissemination of results.

Italiano

Oggi la notizia di un nuovo progetto chiamato BORDER FILM PROJECT ha fatto il giro di molti blogs americani. Il progetto consiste nella distribuzione di centinaia di macchine fotografiche usa e getta al confine fra USA e Messico sia ai Messicani che cercano di attraversare il Deserto dell’Arizona per entrare negli US che ai volontari Minuteman che cercano di impedirglielo.
Alla fine le foto saranno stampate, selezionate ed esposte in varie gallerie in Messico e negli Stati Uniti. Un sistema originale per esporre e far incontrare due punti di vista contrastanti. Un’idea che potrebbe essere usata anche in Europa in contesti simili e che sicuramente potrebbe offrire nuove informazioni e chiavi di lettura del fenomeno migratorio.
Per vedere alcune delle fotografie già pubblicate visitate il sito del progetto.

English

News about an inspiring project on “illegal” immigration has been blogged about today, this is the BORDER FILM PROJECT. The project involves the distribution of hundreds of disposable cameras to two groups on different sides of the U.S.-Mexico border: undocumented migrants crossing the Arizona desert and Minuteman volunteers trying to stop them.
In the end, the photos will be developed, juried, and shown at galleries throughout the United States and Mexico. A good way to show two opposite points of view that could inspire similar projects in Europe as well.
To see some of the pictures already available visit their website .

Italiano

Domani a Ragusa si terrà il terzo incontro del nuovo Forum sociale che ha lo scopo di
dare la possibilità ad una pluralità di soggetti istituzionali e non, di aprire un confronto e di attivare iniziative che abbiano come obiettivo preciso il riconoscimento dei diritti
fondamentali dell’uomo.
Si partirà dai diritti dei migranti, rimettendo al centro l’universalità del diritto alla vita e al rispetto della dignità umana e sottolineando la necessità di contrastare in maniera forte e determinata la presenza dei Cpt.

Fra qualche giorno scriverò dei progressi fatti in questo incontro e delle prime iniziative concrete lanciate dal Forum.

English

The third meeting of the Human rights Forum will take place in Ragusa tomorrow, 25th of October 2005. The forum offers a platform to debate about fundamental human rights and promote related initiatives. It is open to representative of governmental and non-governmental organisations, local associations, schools and individual citizens.
The first focus of the Forum will be on migrants’ human rights, starting from the right to life and respect of human dignity, and a campaign against the current detention centres regimes.

In a couple of days I will write about the meeting and the first initiatives we are planning to work on.

Italiano

I disastri naturali che hanno causato migliaia di morti negli Stati Uniti, in Pakistan, Guatemala e Indonesia hanno anche lasciato migliaia e migliaia di persone senza tetto, senza casa, senza città . La stampa internazionale di lingua inglese ha usato il termine “rifugiati” per descrivere la condizione degli sfollati per tali disastri ambientali, richiamando nuovamente l’attenzione sull’opportunità di usare il termine rifugiato in riferimento a migrazioni dovute a catastrofi naturali. Nel mondo accademico il dibattito sulle implicazioni pratiche e giuridiche di tale approccio sono state discusse sin dal 1985, anno di pubblicazione dell’articolo di Essam El-Hinnaw intitolato ‘environmental refugee’. Esistono due scuole di pensiero principali sull’argomento. Coloro che pensano che non sia ne’ utile ne’ necessario usare il termine “environmental refugees” per descrivere le persone che migrano a causa di disastri ambientali. Altri che sostengono l’opinione opposta e concentrano i propri studi proprio su questo tema.
Io credo che questo dibattito sia interessante, utile ed abbia dei notevoli risvolti pratici al momento in cui tali problematiche devono essere affrontate concretamente. Qui ho voluto proporre una breve lista di articoli e siti dedicati all’ argomento.

English

The latest natural disasters in the US, Pakistan, Guatemala, Indonesia killed many people and left an extraordinary number of survivors behind coping with the distruction of their homes, villages, town and cities. Often the news referred to them as refugees rather than survivors or displaced people. They use of the word refugees for people who migrated because of natural disasters brings up a few questions. Since the publication of a paper by Essam El-Hinnawi in 1985 entitled ‘environmental refugee’, this term has been at the centre of an interesting debate around the consequences and legal implications of using the word “refugee” within the context of global climate change and natural disasters

Some scholars consider environmental degradation an important cause of migration, however, they find the definition of “environmental refugees” unuseful and unecessary, both from an intellectual and practical point of view. Others hold the opposite view and focus their attention and research specifically on the case of “environmental refugees”. I find the debate interesting and useful, here I decided to list a selection of relevant papers available on-line and websites.

Richard Black
Environmental refugees: myth or reality?
Working Paper No. 34 NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH March 2001

Stephen Castles
Environmental change and forced migration: making sense of the debate.
Working Paper No. 70 NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH October 2002

Stuart M. Leiderman
Environmental Response/Fourth World Project
“Environmental Refugees and Ecological Restoration”

UN Day for Disaster Reduction: Weds. Oct. 12
As Ranks of “Environmental Refugees� Swell Worldwide, Calls Grow for Better Definition, Recognition, Support

Norman Myers
ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES: AN EMERGENT SECURITY ISSUE
13th Economic Forum, Prague, 23-27 May 2005

Karla Hatrick
Flight from the Environment: A New Category of Refugees?

Anthony Oliver-Smith
Disasters and Forced Migration in the 21st Century

Institute for Environmental Security
Institute for Environmental Security

If you have new related links to suggest just let me know.

It has taken me a few days to get back to write on the blog. I needed time to digest some of the comments that followed the publication of an excellent piece of journalism, published by L’Espresso in Italy, regarding the terrible conditions in which immigrants are kept in the temporary detention centre in Lampedusa.
The journalist Fabrizio Gatti, pretended to be an immigrant who just landed in Lampedusa. He lived for a week in the camp until they sent him to Sicily and let him go with a temporary five days permit that should have given him enough time to leave Italy but is used by many to disappear in the world of illegal immigration. Gatti has written an article describing the whole experience.

He found total chaos. The place is far too small to accommodate the number of immigrants who get usually there. The toilets were in tragic conditions giving no privacy and with excrement all over the place. The small kind of mattresses that some people managed to get were dirty and, in some cases, infested with insects. The food was scarce; he understood immediately that a kind of egg and bread crumbs frittata covered for the non existing meat cotoletta that the state is probably paying for, etc…

Once again, Italy reacts to immigration on an emergency basis. Lampedusa has received large numbers of immigrants for many years now and the local authorities on the island have often complained about the inadequate structures in place. Boat after boat, the hundreds of immigrants who have survived the journey are dealt with as an emergency in those conditions.

Previous cases have already warned that checks are required to make sure that government funding are really used to buy proper food and equipment, keep the place clean, etc…but it seems impossible to learn from the past.
An example for the food is the refugee camp set up in Comiso for the Kosovar refugees in 1999 where, initially, the canteen was providing the refugees with decent food, which later became really scarce and dropped in quality. This was partly due to the increasing number of people in the camp, but also to the dubious management of supplies which led the cooperative responsible for the catering to be placed under investigation for fraud.

But perhaps what is more shocking in Gatti’s account is the behaviour of some of the police and carabinieri in the centre. Gatti makes a clear distinction in his article between those who work really hard in this chronic emergency situation and do their best, and those who manage to ruin it all by abusing the immigrants, slapping them for fun, kicking them, forcing them to watch pornographic images, making fan of their conditions and imposing inhumane routines which force them to sit under the sun for hours without going to the toilet.

Just a few thoughts:

Italy cannot keep dealing with this phenomenon on such terms, as a total unexpected emergency. The “emergency strategy” justifies many problems in the system and the general disorganisation, can offer better ways for frauds to be covered for and, finally, works as a natural filter so that Europe can keep getting the so much needed illegal immigrants while showing to be tough and able to deter some of them.

The rest of Europe cannot go on ignoring this and letting Italy do the “dirty� job.

National and European parliamentary committees visiting these places need not to give any warnings and pre-set appointments that give people responsible for the centres enough time to clean, buy the real meat, behave kindly with the immigrants. Moreover, these centres need to be open to the press, to NGOs and other concerned citizens who want to monitor and help.

On a final note, Gatti pointed out that many people in the centre had already a job to go to in Italy or elsewhere in Europe or relatives waiting for them. They are almost resigned to the fact that the price to pay, if they manage to survive during the trip on the boat, is a week of hell in one of the pearls of the Mediterranean Sea, a paridise for tourists from all over the world.

You can find the Fabrizio Gatti’s article on the Carta website if you want to read it in Italian.

I received news today of a new group of people coming together to raise awareness regarding some specific problems linked to the deportation of failed asylum seekers that touch them directly. These are Brides without Borders, the girlfriends, fiancés and wives of people facing deportation in the UK.

The news is that various couples facing forcible separation have come together across the UK to start a national campaign to raise the profile of their cases, and highlight the ways in which the Home Office’s immigration policy affects even them, British Citizens.

They explain: “Many of us have been told by the Home office that our partners can go back to their country, and we may accompany them there even though the Foreign Office advise against travel to these countries…

Many of us have also been advised that our partners can travel back to their countries and apply for a visa to return to the UK…

Also, many of us have even been denied the right to marry our partners. New laws prevent asylum seekers marrying UK nationals.”

They are now looking for support for their Public Petitions to the House of Commons asking “That the House of Commons debates on this matter, and [thus asks] that the Home Office reconsiders their decisions and uses their powers to grant Discretionary Leave to individuals in cases where the removal would involve a the British National accompanying their spouse to an ‘unsafe’ country or a separation of couples for an indefinite length of time.”

They are also sending letters to various MPs and organising a demonstration that should take place on 10th October 2005 when Parliament reconvenes and starts discussing changes to current asylum policy / law.

This opens a window on the world of complex relations that characterise the life of an asylum seeker in the country where he/she lodges an application.
Unavoidably, people build new friendships, become familiar with the environment, their children enter the local school system and, within their uncertain condition of limbo, they manage to settle into their new uncertain lives. Therefore, a deportation order does not imply only a renewed fear for their lives once back in the country of origin, but also a sense of loss of those little everyday normal things they had managed to conquer regardless of their precarious life in the country of exile.

Usually, discussions regarding these cases turn around one main conclusion:
“If they claimed asylum, and their claim was refused, it means they are not in real fear of persecution in the country of origin, therefore they can be sent back. The state has acted within the law.”

However, I want to start a discussion around two other issues:

1) The definition of “safe country”.

It is common to find situations like the ones described by Bride without Borders, where asylum seekers are refused a claim on the basis that the country of origin is now safe, while British Nationals are told that the same country is not safe and are advised not to travel there. This was the case of Kosovo, then Afghanistan and now Iraq.
Often the definition of “safe country” given by international organisations working in the field is not an absolute clear cut claim, but implies various layers and includes a variety of specific cases for which the conclusions that the country of origin is now safe do not apply. This are often ignored by the authorities and the press.

2) Best long-term outcome for all parties involved: the individual, the country of exile and the country of origin.

Quite often a premature forced repatriation of failed asylum seekers can create further problems to the country of origin itself let alone the individual returnee, and can also deprive the country of exile of the valuable contribution of these people.
A discussion about possible opportunities that might lead to a win-win situation as opposed to cases where all parties involved loose out should be explored further.

I invite you to send me your opinion regarding these two points, in the meantime for those who would like to know more about Brides without Borders:

Inquiries/further information:

Jessica Hossein
justice4hossein@aol.com
07951 583353

If you want to know more about a few specific cases:

Suzie and Nazwad
Katie and Sherzad

Jenifer and Ali

Heather and Shah

Ho appena ricevuto le seguenti informazioni circa la presentazione del Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2005.

Dossier Statistico Immigrazione 2005
Caritas - Migrantes
Presentazione XV Rapporto
Teatro Orione, v. Tortona 7 (Metro Re di Roma)
27 ottobre 2005, ore 10.30

Per informazioni rivolgersi a:
Redazione centrale Dossier Statistico Immigrazione Caritas/Migrantes
telefax: 06/54192252
idos@dossierimmigrazione.it

The Italian “Dossier Statistico Immigrazione”

Since the first year of its publication in 1990, year when Italy passed its first immigration bill, the Dossier Statistico Immigrazione has grown to be the main source of comprehensive statistical information regarding immigration in Italy.

The Dossier provides statistical data of national, regional and local relevance related to various aspects of the phenomenon as well as an analysis of the information collected prepared by experts in the field. It is an indispensible resource to those interested in understanding the Italian situation.

I have just received news that the 2005 edition is ready and will be presented in Rome on the 27th of October 2005, at 10.30 am at the Teatro Orione, v. Tortona 7 (Metro Re di Roma).

For any further information please contact:
Per informazioni:
Redazione centrale Dossier Statistico Immigrazione Caritas/Migrantes
telefax: 06/54192252
idos@dossierimmigrazione.it