The reception center on the Italian island of Lampedusa is for many migrants their first contact with Europe after crossing the Mediterranean, but it has long been a place of despair.
Flooded bathrooms, lack of doctors, food and water, chronic overcrowding that forces men, women and children to sleep outdoors on dirty mattresses: the stories of aid workers are grim.
According to the UN Migration Agency (IOM), three migrants have died at this center in recent months.
But on June 1, by decision of the government, the Italian Red Cross took over, pledging to give a better welcome to the tens of thousands of people who arrive each year from North Africa in the hope of a new life in Europe.
Tons of rubbish have been removed, the kitchen has been renovated, additional bathrooms have been installed, although unpleasant odors persist, a new medical team has been recruited and rows of modern cots have been installed to almost double the capacity of the site.
Efforts are also being made to speed up transfers off the island to ease pressure on a center built for 389 people but often hosting more than 3,000.
“We are here at the doorstep of Europe. Our mission will obviously be to restore to those who arrive in Italy a dignity that has often been flouted,” said Ignazio Schintu, a Red Cross official, during a visit to the media this week.
Famous for its white sand beaches, Lampedusa has been best known for decades as a tourist destination and continues to welcome many visitors.
Located about 145 kilometers from the Tunisian coast, this confetti has also become one of the main entry points for migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
Last year, more than 46,000 people landed there, out of a total of 105,000 arrivals in Italy, according to the UN refugee agency.
In the picturesque old port, a small fleet of coastguard and police boats is moored alongside that of fishermen and tourists.
When the weather is good and the sea calm, they go out almost every day to rescue migrant boats.
At the reception centre, newcomers receive food, water, clothing and undergo a medical examination, but they can also recharge their telephones and access the internet.
“The Wi-Fi and the connection are among the first requests they make of us”, to allow them to let their loved ones who have stayed in the country know that they are safe, assures Francesca Basile, head of migration at the Croix- Red.
Unfortunately, her team is also led to reveal the identity of a body or a missing person to families “looking for someone who is no longer there”, she adds.
According to the IOM, more than 1,000 people have died since the start of the year trying to cross the central Mediterranean, making it the deadliest sea crossing in the world.
The center is small: it consists of a street flanked by white buildings, with a few benches set up under the trees bordering a high fence guarded by soldiers outside.
On trestle tables, under a belvedere, a group of young Tunisians discuss. When asked about their opinion of the center, one responds with a laugh: “50-50”.
Many migrants are teenagers or children, with or without their families, and they and women are separated from adult men.
A few toys are scattered around the site, while a wall bears the letters of the alphabet and a few Italian words.
Psychologists are also on hand to help the most vulnerable, although the new right-wing/far-right government has recently removed the requirement for migrant centers to provide such services.
Giorgia Meloni’s coalition came to power largely on a promise to end mass immigration to Italy.
But more than 53,000 people have already arrived this year, compared to 21,000 during the same period in 2022.
The police have their own building in the center and the aim is to transfer arrivals out of Lampedusa within a day or two to centers on the mainland where they can be properly dealt with.
Impossible to say where they will go next. The day after the media visit, AFP saw dozens of young men being transported to the port and boarded a ferry to Sicily.
Mohammed, 26, told AFP he had come from Bangladesh via Libya. He didn’t know where he was going, but when asked how he felt in Italy, he answered with a broad smile: “Good”.
10/06/2023 05:40:50 – Lampedusa (Italy) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
