Mediterranean Hope – Newsletter September 2016
The memory that leaves a mark on the present – The staff of MH Lampedusa
“The memory that leaves a mark on the present” will be an ecumenical celebration to remember the victims of the tragedy of 3 October 2013 when 368 people fleeing war, persecution and violence lost their lives in a shipwreck a few miles off the coast of Lampedusa. This date is still an open wound for the survivors who lost loved ones and for the people of Lampedusa who, rescuing people from the shipwreck, saw so many people to die right before their eyes. But the date of October 3 is also a wound for our countries and for all of us who witnessed the failure of recent immigration policies in that tragedy. Read more…
Eleven Deaths A Day: The Humanitarian Corridors Are An Alternative – Paolo Naso – NEV
The overall result is a very negative situation under the political, economic and human point of view. It is the default of the European reception principles and its tradition of hospitality and protection of human rights. It is the crack of any rational logic of managing the effects of a geopolitical crisis of which even the old Continent brings a major share of responsibility. It is in this framework that strengthens the Italian proposal of “humanitarian corridors” namely a flexible, safe and legal management of the migration flows or, at least, of their most vulnerable part that is exposed to persecution and violence. Read more…
Nights That Means Life – Francesco Piobbichi
There are nights that go wrong since the sunset, black moonless nights, with a sea on the horizon that seems to get rid of every hope. Yesterday was one of this night. It began at sunset with the news that shortly thereafter more than 1,100 people would arrive at the Molo Favaloro. According to rumours, once viewed Lampedusa, hundreds of migrants who were crammed into the boat would ask to get off the ground and without going further. So last night, hundreds of people who had to reach Palermo landed in Lampedusa. Read more…
Voices from the Mediterranean – Antonia Cannito
The ball bounces up from the grass and with a firm, quick movement Yhaya manages to stop the goal. “No problem” says the boy with a strong Sicilian accent, a pat on the back and the game continues. “Yalla, yalla” scream the ebony-coloured boys with no shoes who hit the ball over and over again into the opponent’s net. Read more…
Hospitality, detained, imprisoned: the words of immigration – Marco Magnano – Riforma
Since classical times when Greece was the centre of the world and the Mediterranean was the cradle of world civilisation, the concepts of “guests” and “hospitality” have played a very important role in creating an identity shared by people who lived along its coastline. In the culture of ancient Greece, in fact, xenia required the landlord to respect the guest in an almost divine way, considering the reception as an honour. Even today we often hear that “the guest is sacred” but the experience of places such as identification and expulsion centres where those who are detained are called “guests” shows us how the term is gradually losing its meaning. Read more…