A small Italian resort suffers from an influx of illegal immigrants
Lampedusa is a paradise. It has everything for an unforgettable vacation: sun, clear sea, wonderful beaches and beautiful hotels. Usually in April there are thousands of tourists here. But now it is very lucky to meet them on the island. Instead of tourists, there are numerous police officers who have come to Lampedusa on assignment from all over Italy, journalists, and most importantly, thousands of illegal immigrants who have been arriving almost daily from North African countries since January.
The famous Cala Pulcino ('rabbit beach' in Italian) these days is a strange sight. Warm sand, deck chairs, and next to them – piles of garbage and scraps of cellophane. Cleaners are diligently collecting both. At the beginning of the week, before the police intervened, Tunisian refugees lived here.
However, not only here. Homemade tents made from cut-up canvas boats stood literally everywhere, even in the very center of Lampedusa, opposite the town hall. Now, after the local residents held a noisy rally, where even demands for the resignation of the government were heard, there are fewer canvas tents.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi himself came to calm the gathered Lampedusans. He promised that all illegal immigrants would definitely be taken off the island to refugee reception centers in mainland Italy and that the tourist season would not be disrupted. As proof of the seriousness of his intentions, Berlusconi said he bought one of the empty villas that are not selling on Lampedusa online. After the prime minister's visit, ships arrived on the island. But they were unable to take all the illegal immigrants away due to a storm, and mainly due to the arrival of new arrivals from North Africa.
Now many on Lampedusa are dissatisfied with the prime minister. The only ones they are even more dissatisfied with are the illegal immigrants. 'I understand these people, but let them understand us too. Everyone says they are unhappy. And are we happy? Tourism is everything for us. If tourists don't come to us, we will be left without money,' local resident Massimo Caltogirone heatedly told a reporter for 'NI'.
There is indeed a refugee reception center on Lampedusa. After all, the island is the southern gateway to Italy, where newcomers from the African continent, wanting to illegally enter Europe, have long arrived. Instead of tents, the center has rooms. The conditions there are, of course, worse than in the spa rooms of Lampedusa's hotels, but quite tolerable. However, there are only eight hundred places. And just a week ago, up to four thousand people from Tunisia and Libya arrived on the island. It is not surprising that the tents on the beaches are not disappearing.
A little away from Rabbit Beach there is another beach, which local residents have nicknamed Fish Beach over the past few days. Why – I understood immediately as soon as I came here. The first refugee I met was sitting on the shore with a homemade fishing rod. Nearby, next to the tent, traces of a fire are visible. Here, apparently, they fried the caught fish.
The illegal immigrant, a young guy about 25 years old, introduces himself as 'Hassan, an engineer from Tunisia'. I ask him why he needs fish. After all, he can eat for free at the refugee reception center. 'My own fish tastes better. Besides, I'm used to fish at home, and here, at the center, there is only potatoes and spaghetti,' says Hassan.
At the migration office in Sicily, they explained to me that all illegal immigrants will say they fled from civil war or repression. Otherwise, they will not be granted refugee status. However, Hassan directly said that he is fleeing for economic reasons: 'There is no work in Tunisia and, it seems, there won't be any in the near future. What am I to do there?'
My interlocutor admitted that he paid for a place on a motor boat that brought him to Lampedusa. He says that in the past the fare to Italy was a thousand euros. Now the smugglers are dumping: for one living soul transported to Lampedusa, they charge only 200 euros. Fortunately, there is no shortage of people wanting to get here. Hassan says that now you don't even need to reach the shore: it's enough to meet with a border patrol boat.
Previously, border guards handed over illegal immigrants to Tunisian or Libyan authorities; now they bring them to Lampedusa. 'The thing is, we had an agreement with the authorities of Libya and Tunisia. And now it is unclear who to hand these people over to,' explained the head of the border service control center, Davide Messirendino.
Viktor STRIZHOV.
