Italy: report about the current situation in lampedusa

(August 2005)

Dear all,

As some of you know, I have been in Lampedusa for a workshop during the
past
couple of days. Let me describe shortly what I saw there and the
information I
gathered.

Lampedusa is a small place and even smaller is the location in which
arrivals,
detention and deportation takes place. If one stands in the port, all
of these
happen nearly in font of your eyes. On one side of the port, there are
the
boats of Guardia di finanza as well as rather small wooden boats used
for
transportation of migrants (I could see 3 of them at that time, all
rather
small and one used for transportation of 150 people). The boats arrive
during
the night as well as during the days. Once they are individuated, the
boats are
taken to the port. Then the boats are emptied and migrants are lined up
i.e.
seated on the nearby pier. From there, migrants are taken with small
buses to
the detention centre. The detention centre is at the airport, only a
couple of
minute drive from the port. Actually, it is situated on the small hill
exactly
on the opposite side of where the boats of Guardia di finanza are and
where
line-ups take place. At this point men are separated from women and
children,
and the latter are taken elsewhere and not in the Lampedusa airport
camp.

Migrants, all men, stay in the detention centre for about 15-20 days
usual but
there is no rule to it. The length of the stay depends on the number of
migrants. The camp, a piece of dirt land and a couple of barracks
encircled by
the barbed wire, can hold 150 people. During the days I was there, it
seems
that about 700 migrants where there. The 15-20 days are the days during
which
migrants wait for the expulsion order. However, if there are many
migrants in
the camp, then it is common that they are moved further without any
official
communication/expulsion order. In fact, collective deportations have in
past
taken place without any official communication/expulsion order being
issued.
During the period in the camp migrants are 'idenified': this means that
their
fingerprints, the given name(s) or number, and a photo are placed on a
piece of
paper. If I am not mistaking, it seems that these types of
identifications take
place also on the pier, immediately upon emptying the boats.

Since the IOM signed the agreement with Libya (i pasterd it below), the
deportation flight take regularly place on Wednesdays from Lampedusa
and on
Sundays from Catania. The practice of identifying most of the migrants
as
Egyptians rather than migrants coming from Sub-Saharan Africa seems to
be link
to the fact that Libya accepts only those migrants whom they can
officially
deport further. Identifying migrants as of the same nationality also
enables
the collective deportations.

I was on the airport during the Wednesday deportation flight and want
to convey
you the image of the scene. Not so much because of the deportation
itself, but
because of the incredible contrast between the deportation and tourist
flights,
planes staying 10m away from each other.

At the moment of the deportation, two planes where standing on the
small piece
of asphalt. One is AirOne, an Italian tourist carrier and the other one
had the
sign of AA, and carried the Croatian flag. After a net search, I found
out that
AA stands for Air Adriatic, a private Croatian i.e. Istrian air
company, owned
by Dean Cabric. AA does also tourist charter flights from and to
Croatian
coast. I also found out that Amnesty International Croatia has written
to AA
and told them that by transporting the migrants they are violating
human
rights. The local news paper from Rijeka picked up on that and there
was a text
(written by Ladislav Tomcic) in which the owned of AA is accused of
'transporting Africans into suffering and death'. The owner of AA
answered
saying that the accusations are unjust since AA provides service to its
passengers according to the European standards, meaning it offers
passengers
food, drinks and comfort (Novi List, 11.05.2005)

Back to the airport. As I said, two planes, 10m distance from each
other.
Moreover, AA plane is 20 min away from the detention camp. While inside
of the
airport building, one can see the camp clearly. It is only few meters
away.
Behind the bribed wire, there are many men walking around or seated in
the
courtyard. The deportation takes place as a 'small' event. 4 men (i.e.
3 men
and 1 woman) accompany 10 migrants (all black men) from the camp to the
plane.
It always happens in groups of ten and in the form of 'fila indiana'
(walking
one behind other). So, migrants walk one behind the other, with 4
police
officers in civilian clothes and black gloves next to them i.e. one in
front,
one in the back and two on the sides. Migrant men are all dressed the
same,
probably into clothes they were give there: a blue sports trousers and
jacket,
with a vertical white stripe. And each of them carries a white plastic
shopping
bag. While migrant are marched into the place, in an ordered and small
formation, a large group of tourists moves randomly towards the other
plane.
The contrast of these two situations, one next to the other, cannot be
more
striking.

Migrants detained and deported from Lampedusa by plane have no chance
of
requesting asylum or react against the expulsion order if they get one.
Deportation flights happen without migrants having received any
official
communication/expulsion order. Instead, migrants receive the paper that
identifies them: the photo, name/number and a fingerprint.

Deportations also take place by ship. The ship comes to the very same
port I was
describing above. Opposite to the identification/line-up pier and under
the
airport hill. Migrants are the last one to board the ship. When
everyone is
already on the ship, migrants are taken by the police to the ship
walking in
the same --but this time bigger-- formation as at the airport. The ship
takes
migrants to Porto Empedocle and from there they are taken to the camp
in
Crotone (south Italy). These migrants, coming from Magreb counties,
will be
held in Crotone for 60 days until released or until they escape.
Contrary to
Lampedusa, Crotone seems to be a place where ones chances of escaping
are quite
high.

That's it. Hope this info is useful and renders the events and places
in
Lampedusa.

GENEVA-IOM and Libya Sign Agreement -The Permanent Representative of
the
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mme Najat Al-Hajjaji, today
signed
an agreement with IOM Director General, Brunson McKinley, for the
opening of an
office in Tripoli.

Welcoming the signing of this agreement, McKinley said: "We look
forward to
reinforcing our on-going cooperation with the Libyan government to
construct,
in new practical and balanced ways, a strong partnership that will
serve both
the rights of migrants and migration priorities of the Jamahiriya as a
receiving and transit country."

Mme Al-Hajjaji told journalists: "Curbing irregular migration and
promoting
orderly and humane migration management have become priorities for
governments
in the Western Mediterranean region. Libya, as a country of transit
and
destination for migrants intends to address the issue in a
comprehensive manner
both bilaterally and multilaterally."

The new agreement provides IOM with the same privileges and immunities
as
specified by the 1947 Convention on Privileges and Immunities of UN.

Through a series of diplomatic and technical consultations, held in
Geneva, in
Tripoli and within the context of the 5+ 5 dialogue, IOM and Libya have
agreed
to cooperate on migration issues such as the rights of migrants,
international
migration law and technical assistance and capacity building for
migration
management. Pilot activities will start very shortly with Italian
funding.

In June 2004, IOM and the Libyan government organised a seminar in
Tripoli that
brought together some 50 officials from nine Western Mediterranean
countries
(Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and
Tunisia) to
discuss improved regional cooperation in migration and development,
rights of
migrants and the fight against irregular migration.

IOM has also organised training sessions for Libyan officials to
discuss issues
related to border management, international migration law, rights of
migrants
and assisted voluntary return and reintegration for stranded migrants.

Areas of future cooperation include:

Labour selection programmes for migrant workers whose skills match
Libya's
labour needs
Assistance programmes for trafficked migrants
Assisted humane voluntary return and sustainable reintegration
programmes for
irregular migrants in Libya
Information campaigns to raise awareness amongst potential irregular
migrants
Income generating programmes in neighbouring countries for potential
migrants to
Libya.

Libya is an active player in the Western Mediterranean Dialogue on
Migration
("5+5 Dialogue"), which brings together ministers and representatives
of the
governments of Algeria, France, Italy, Libya, Malta, Mauritania,
Morocco,
Portugal, Spain and Tunisia to work on common migration issues.

The Third Ministerial Meeting on Migration in the Western Mediterranean
in
September 2004 in Algiers, recommended the opening of a dialogue with
sub-Saharan countries on the issue of transit migration to Europe.

Libya joined IOM as a member state in June 2004.

For more information, please call Redouane Saadi, IOM Geneva, Tel +41
22 717
9321/+41 79 786 19 92. Email rsaadi@iom.int

For more information on the 5+5 dialogue go to: