Logos of the participating municipalities, networks and associations.
The Municipality of Mazara del Vallo has an ancient history of relationships and collaborations with the populations overlooking the common Mediterranean sea, which over the centuries have had relationships with the Mazara communities. The choice to hold the conference in this city, where the church bells echo and the muezzin's song at prayer time, was dictated precisely by the characteristics of Mazara. Its historic center has neighborhoods with names like Kasbah, Giudecca, which testify to its multi-cultural and multi-religious roots
The Convention on the Rights of the Mediterranean, Refugees in Libya (Ril), Alliance with Refugees in Libya (ARiL), were the promoters of the meeting in Mazara del Vallo, sponsored and supported by the Department of Family, Social Policies and Work of the Sicily Region and by the Municipality of Mazara del Vallo. The Sicilian ANCI and the ALI also granted their patronage.
After the greetings of the President of the Convention, Alfio Foti, Angiolina Rossi, an activist of ARiL, illustrated the contents of the exhibition of texts and photographs that introduces the participants to the themes and objectives of the campaign, set up at the entrance of the beautiful hall of the Peace Operations Center, where the first part of the event took place.
The short, extremely emotional film of a rescue carried out on board a Tunisian patrol boat, experienced and personally created by Giuseppe Ciulla, a journalist specialized in migration dossiers, preceded the press conference moderated by him.
Salvatore Quinci, Mayor of Mazara del Vallo, Mahamat Daoud, Vice President of RiL, Dorina Achelaritei, activist of ARiL, animated the press conference in which the salient characteristics of the work of the municipal administration in the field of reception and the activities and objectives of the Associations were presented.
The Mayor recalled the history of Mazara and focused on the fact that it was the first Municipality to join the Convention, sharing its objectives and tools. Mazara is a crossroads in the Mediterranean and its prospects continue to look to the sea as a source of income, with a possible fishing agreement with Libya.
In his speech Mahamat Daoud brought to the attention of the audience the living conditions of refugees in Libya, their suffering, the violence they suffer daily and the risk of being arrested at any time or kidnapped by gangs of traffickers. The Evacuate Human Rights Defenders from Libya campaign aims to get as many people as possible out of Libya.
Dorina Achelaritei on behalf of Aril recalled the initiatives undertaken to support the cause of Refugees. The UNFAIR campaign, aimed at urging a change in the behavior of the UNHCR in Tripoli, bringing together hundreds of activists in December 2022 in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Agency, the meeting in Brussels in June 2023, with Members of the European Parliament and with a march in the significant places of the European capital, the Evacuate Human Rights Defenders campaign, launched in Bologna in January 2024, followed by the meetings in Rome in May, in Berlin in October and now in November in Mazara del Vallo.
The round table that followed was particularly interesting, with very high-level attendance.
Arianna d’Alfio, City Councilor of Mazara del Vallo introduced the work and moderated the debate.
The theme: “Reception in Sicily”, a region where tens of thousands of refugees arrive on the central Mediterranean route, presented from multiple points of view, was introduced by the intervention of the Bishop of Mazara, His Excellency Angelo Giurdanella. An important contribution that reminded us that in our actions we must “leave our mark, become the voice of those who have no voice, bringing refugees home”. His warning: “The Earth belongs to everyone, it is home, the cities belong to everyone, they are home, let us unite in supporting human rights alongside those who fight and support those who save”.
Dr. Michela Bongiorno, Director in charge of the Special Migration Office at the Department of Family, Social Policies and Labor of the Sicily Region, recalled the importance of knowing the reality and needs. The work of the Office she directs needs to “become visionary”. The Region of Sicily has equipped itself with an excellent law on reception, the 20/2021 and has invited those present to participate in the annual conference on this topic, scheduled for December 16.
In the verification activity, over 150 informal settlements were recorded. Some organized only for the night, to make the traces disappear the next morning, hiding the tents and personal effects. "No one is a stranger to humanity and everyone has the right to pursue their dreams.”
Hon. Leoluca Orlando, member of the Libe Commission of the European Parliament, with a history of concrete commitment to welcome, as mayor of Palermo, began his speech by comparing “welcome to a mosaic”, which requires a frame to hold all the pieces together and give them a complete meaning.
The Italian Constitution, in art. 10 states “A foreigner who is prevented in his country from the effective exercise of the democratic freedoms guaranteed by the Italian Constitution, has the right to asylum in the territory of the Republic, according to the conditions established by law.
Extradition of a foreigner for political crimes is not permitted.”
This rule came into force on 1 January 1948, while the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into force on 10 December of the same year with a formula much less significant and binding than our Constitution, stating in art. 14, paragraph 1 that “Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution”.
The frame of the mosaic is respect for human dignity, expressed in every form and in every sense.
In ten years, two million migrants have entered Europe from all routes, from Mexico to the United States, last year, more than a million, and the European Union has one and a half times the population of the American country. What kind of invasion are we talking about?
More young people leave Italy every year - and we should be very concerned about this - than immigrants. The balance between births and deaths is negative by 300,000 units in 2023. But what invasion are we talking about?”
The Hon. Orlando has declared himself available to launch, within the scope of his parliamentary activities, a specific action to support the cause of refugees in Libya, while considering that from this and other points of view, the situation in the European Parliament and overall in the Union is very negative.
The Hon. Nuccio di Palma, Vice President of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, was the rapporteur of the regional law on reception 20/2021, approved unanimously by the Sicilian Parliament. This agreement could be found only because no financial burden measures were envisaged, i.e. “at zero cost”. However, some initiatives were carried out, with the active and decisive contribution of the Special Migration Office. The observatory on migration, for example, coordinated by Prof. Karim Hannachi, and other initiatives connected to the law, seeking and finding the necessary resources from time to time. The ambitious project is to arrive at stably financing the law, using in the first instance the resources of the PNRR that assign significant funds to the Region. Over two million euros are earmarked for reception projects, the objective we set ourselves is to finance with at least 1 million euros the activities envisaged by law 20.
The Mayor of Pastorino, Giacomo Anastasi, in an impassioned speech wanted to underline the abandonment of small communities, left to themselves with cuts in funding for reception activities that do not guarantee the bare minimum to be able to meet the needs of the communities and their guests.
The strong inequalities that characterize this historical period, the increasingly massive funding for the purchase of weapons and war equipment, which contribute on the one hand to the massacres, which we witness helplessly in countries and situations at war, on the other to divert funds that could be used to support the primary needs of people, not only migrants, but all residents, regardless of their location on the national territory.
A striking example was the seizure of the Mazara fishing boat by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, the arrest of the crew carried out with patrol boats provided by the Italian government. The courage and commitment of the women of Mazara, mothers, wives and daughters of the fishermen contributed after 108 days of torture, recounted by Beppe Ciulla and Catia Catania in the book “La Cala. One hundred days in Libyan prisons”.
The Mayor concludes by announcing: “The municipal administration of Pastorino is available to participate in a project aimed at the evacuation of human rights defenders from Libya.”
Don Leo Di Simone, director of the Peace Operators Center, who in his speech cited a great author Erasmus of Rotterdam and his book In Praise of Folly. The folly in the book speaks in the first person, making fun of the great philosophers of history, Socrates, Aristotle, but the real engines of history were the madmen, those considered such by their time.
The maddest of all, Christ. The Center he directs is a meeting place between cultures, among its activities a school for woodworking where the boys dedicate themselves (beautiful works made by the boys, inspired by the greatest artists of the 20th century, are exhibited in the corridor that leads to the conference room), while the girls mainly deal with painting and the preparation of typical Tunisian and Sicilian sweets.
The culture of interreligious encounter, peace, and cooperation inspire the activities of the Center every day, which relies exclusively on private donations, on which it can build its programs.
The Secretary General of Anci Sicilia, Mario Alvano, wanted to recall the fruitful preparatory work of law 20/2021, which involved grassroots organizations, municipalities, and associations committed to carrying out reception work. The common commitment, the consideration that it is not "biased", but concerns all communities, regardless of the color of the administrations, places the Association of Municipalities in a central position to constantly improve what Sicilians by culture and tradition have in their DNA, hospitality. The issue of the evacuation from Libya of refugees committed to the defense of human rights is very close to ANCI's heart and it has declared its willingness to delve into a specific project.
“There is talk of an invasion, but only 1.7 migrants are currently welcomed in each of the 391 Sicilian municipalities.” With this data, Prof. Karim Hannachi, coordinator of the Observatory on Migration of the Region and member of the Convention for Rights in the Mediterranean, began his speech. His twenty-year experience of migratory flows, consolidated with the many years of responsibility as contact person for Sicily of the Statistical Dossier on Immigration, combines the in-depth quantitative analysis of the data, with socio-cultural aspects of extraordinary importance, to understand and analyze the migratory phenomenon.
The false propaganda narrative of the danger posed by immigrants is demonstrated in an irrefutable way by the data. The dissemination of reality, through widespread information, wherever possible, should be the first objective of those who are aware of the propaganda tool used for electoral purposes.
Lam Magok, representative of refugees in Libya, concluded the round table, speaking about his experience as a Sudanese boy, who after many adventures, was locked up in Ain Zara, one of the worst prisons in all of Libya, where dozens of people are crowded together in narrow rooms, where the spread of infectious diseases is very high, from tuberculosis to scabies, and where there is no way out. You cannot return to your country and you cannot go anywhere. I was very lucky. I was registered by the UNHCR and I arrived in Italy with a humanitarian corridor, but tens of thousands are trapped in an absurd situation. We at Refugees in Libya are committed to evacuating not only those who participated in the protests, the human rights defenders, but all those who are currently forced refugees in a country that has never wanted to sign the Geneva Convention on the right to asylum and where we are all illegal.
This first day ended in the best possible way. The aim of this meeting was to involve at European and local level deputies, public administrations, ecclesiastical institutions in a project that was born for Sicily in Mazara: to prepare a humanitarian reception corridor, to open a stable and profitable channel with the European Parliament.
The first part has given very encouraging and positive results.
Let's see tomorrow, Saturday 30 November, how civil society will respond to the appeal that Refugees in Libya has launched with its representatives to public institutions.
The day dedicated to in-depth workshops begins with a fresh North wind.
The morning is introduced by Edgardo Maria Iozia, coordinator of the migration table of the Convention on Rights in the Mediterranean and activist of Aril. Who briefly presented the workshops of the day: Rescues at sea, Freedom of movement, Hot line of Refugees in Libya, Migrant women.
Hagen Kopp, co-founder of Alarm Phone and activist of Aril, introduces the first workshop by presenting the activities of Alarm Phone, its organization and the results of its work in its ten years of life.
There are countless lives saved by the continuous monitoring carried out 24 hours a day by the volunteers of Alarm Phone, who as soon as they receive a call for help, alert the rescue centers, the ships of the civil rescue fleet and other ships that are in the vicinity of the position given by the dinghies or other vessels traveling towards Europe.
Some centers do not respond to calls, like the Maltese one for example. In the face of 12,000 landings in rescue operations carried out in Italy, 68 have arrived in Malta.
At alternating stages from Libya and Tunisia, “rescues” are carried out that have much more the flavor of pushbacks and deportations to concentration camps.
Beppe Caccia, owner of Mare Jonio, the only ship in the civil fleet registered in the Italian nautical register, introduced the theme of the war strategy against NGOs by Italian governments.
In an initial phase, the coast guards had received the order to reserve special treatment for rescue vessels, with meticulous inspections of the equipment, crew books, and the conditions of the ship. This strategy, after numerous appeals filed and won by NGOs, has drastically changed with the so-called Cutro decree - a hateful shame to call an anti-migrant decree by the name of a massacre due to failure to rescue - which has provided for huge fines, increasingly long detentions, up to the confiscation of the ship, against rescue ships. Another inhuman strategy implemented by the Ministry of the Interior, through the prefectures, is to assign disembarkation ports as far away as possible from the rescue area, forcing ships to make very long, expensive and useless journeys, which cause further suffering to the people rescued, already tried by dangerous journeys that last days and days of sailing on unstable boats. The civilian fleet contributes to the rescue of people arriving by about 10%, the others are recovered by the Coast Guard or other means, even private ones. There is no count of the deaths that could have been avoided without the measures progressively taken over time by the Italian authorities, with the applause of the European ones.
Dorra Frihi, from the Maldusa operational headquarters in Lampedusa, brought her field experience of landings and detentions in hot spots. Theoretically, people who arrive once they have completed the recognition and registration procedures as asylum seekers should be released, instead they are in a limbo of administrative detention, monitored by military barracks. Sometimes thousands of people are crowded into a center that can only accommodate 400. Very long lines to get a meager and insufficient meal, forced to stay outdoors. Once there was the possibility of going out to meet the world, to buy an ice cream. Now everything is fenced off and made impossible to exit. Landings continue in large numbers even in this less favorable period, due to sea conditions. Those who want to escape do not care, just to have the possibility of leaving Libya or Tunisia, where the living conditions of people on the move are getting worse every day.
Marc Montany, a researcher in Brussels and an activist of ARiL introduced and facilitated the workshop on freedom of movement.
Paolo Cutitta, from the SolRoutes project of the University of Genoa, intervened by giving news of the research projects that also involved the city of Mazara. The fishermen of the Sicilian city have been for years the most important “civilian rescue fleet” in the Mediterranean Sea. The project he is working on concerns the reality of migrants between Tunisia and Libya and the conditions in they find themselves in the two countries. The research will be published soon and has also benefited from the active collaboration of Refugees in Libya, which has opened a direct channel of communication with Tunisia. Many refugees from Libya have moved to Tunisia, thinking it would be easier to pass to Europe. A thriving industry of small, unstable and unsafe iron boats has been set up and a thriving human trafficking has started. After the agreements between the Tunisian government and the EU, a very harsh repression began on land and at sea with a real hunt for migrants. There was violence and even murder of young people by people in civilian clothes. Many were left on the edge of the desert, without water and food in Algeria and Libya.
The research is based on testimonies collected on site.
Grootie Van der Verr, a representative of the Waldensian Methodist Church, explained the role played both in active participation in humanitarian corridors and as an actor in the monitoring carried out in detention camps in Libya. The Federation of Episcopal Churches and the Waldensian Church are very active in the field of reception. In Palermo, a second-level reception facility for unaccompanied foreign minors, the Casa dei Mirti, is a residential community that takes into account cultural diversity, languages, religious confessions and eating styles. Individualized paths linked to the individual life project are shared with the children and constitute the basis for reactivating evolutionary paths, supporting reorganization processes of their existence.
Sofia Pressani, a member of On Borders, introduced the Massi refuge in Oulx on Monginevro as a welcoming experience. A house where people on the move stop for a very short time, to face the passage to France, a few kilometers away. Following a ruling by the High Court of Justice of the French Republic, the rejection practices that had been adopted until the first months of 2024 were effectively canceled and the transit between the two borders was much easier for the thousands of people who cross Italy from the Mediterranean and Balkan routes, headed to France, but also to Belgium and Germany, as the northern European borders are more “porous” than others that are guarded in full view.
With the new Barnier government and in particular the new Minister of the Interior, the situation has returned to how it was before, right at the beginning of winter, with temperatures dropping many degrees below zero, on the mountain paths.
Sofia reports a very engaging experience, a walk in the mountains with a device equipped with earphones, which narrates the struggles of the boys forced to face serious risks in order to fulfill their life dream.
Georges Kouang, Refugee from Cameroon, researcher and journalist of The Routes Journal, spent a long time traveling and in Libya to get to Italy, arriving by boat. The work he is doing for this new editorial initiative is the collection, production and screening of films and other testimonies of people on the move. A particularity of the work of The Routes journal is to let the voices of the protagonists be heard in the background. All the correspondents of the newspaper in the last 12 months have been victims of deportation and trafficked at the border by the Tunisian army and/or the Garde National in complicity with the Libyan militias and police. The news is forwarded by a network of correspondents in the field, who risk their lives every day to get news out of the countries where they are active.
The President of Arci Palermo and head of migration at Arci Sicilia, Fausto Melluso, underlined the importance of a strong response from civil society to the authoritarian drifts that, especially in the field of migration, have demonstrated the first acts of the current government, both in the legislative and administrative fields. Arci is committed both at a national and local level to support migrants who would be left to their own devices. Some of its territorial branches are committed against administrative detention facilities, such as the Repatriation Detention Centers (CPR). “The example of the reckless choice to build a hot spot and a CPR with an attached prison in Albania, beyond the disproportionate costs of this operation that we hope will be heavily censured by the Court of Auditors, is one of the areas in which we make our voice heard.”
“We are very interested in sharing initiatives aimed at the evacuation of refugees in Libya and this initiative is welcome to build a common project on this matter”