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Lampedusa: gateway to heaven
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| The tourist haven of Lampedusa, a tiny island 12 miles long, off Italy, looks tranquil in the evening sun. But at times the number of migrants detained there seeking refuge in Europe has topped 20,000 and beyond on the ridge is a fence keeping them prisoner. Photo: UBS/Graham Hutt (ITA05DJ-2.JPG) |
ITALY —
The tiny island of Lampedusa has been described as ‘a speck in
the Mediterranean’. A tourist resort renowned for its beaches and
scuba diving, it is just 19.4 kms (12 miles) long and covers 20 sq.
kms. But its position between North Africa and Europe makes it a desired
destination for many emigrants from Africa so desperate that they leave
their homes behind, risking their lives on a journey of many months,
in the belief that if they reach this Mediterranean shore, they have
taken an irreversible step towards the heaven known as Europe.
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The Italian authorities are at a loss as to how to deal with them and the sad consequence is that Lampedusa now has the highest per capita population of migrants in the world. The local population is just 4000, but in June, according to CNN, the migrants numbered 10,000 and on occasions numbers have reached more than double that. Over two particular days in April this year, more than 600 arrived. Their boats, mostly open rubber dinghies designed to hold no more than 12 people, often carry a hundred or more.
On arrival they are immediately put into an open-air camp, hemmed in by razor wire and armed guards. And there, for the time being, they stay.
Which countries the migrants come from depends largely on their political
and social situations. In recent months, most have been from the Horn
of Africa and the Darfur region of Sudan, all troubled by famine, war
or both. Many women and children are amongst them. A steady stream also
comes from Senegal.
Bandits
Many walk across thousands of miles of desert, to southern Egypt and then through the Libyan desert, heading north, through one of the countries of the Maghreb, to the Mediterranean shore. All the way they have to battle hunger, thirst, bandits and the police.
Others pay to be loaded, like animals, onto impossibly crowded lorries.
Many die even before they reach Libya – either from the heat or
at the hands of robbers.
For those who survive the punishing journey overland to put to sea
from North Africa, the strong currents around Cap Bon, on Tunisia’s
extreme north-east coast, carry their low-powered, overcrowded vessels
down the Sicilian Channel, south-east towards Lampedusa. This longed-for staging post is one of the Pelagie Islands, a group
of volcanic and limestone rocks rising out of the sea about 113 kms
(70 miles) west of Tunisia, between Tunis and Malta, and 205 kms (127
miles) to the south of Sicily.
Many do not survive the voyage. There is strong anecdotal evidence
– from members of the maritime division of the carabinieri,
the Italian national police, for example – suggesting that hundreds
of bodies have been washed up on Lampedusa’s beaches or recovered
from the surrounding sea and either buried on the island or shipped
to Sicily for burial.
These controversial allegations – whose champions include Bob
Geldof – are naturally disputed by the Italian authorities, though
their motive in desiring to protect Lampedusa’s tourist trade would
be understandable. At any rate, authoritative figures for the numbers
who set sail but do not survive are seemingly non-existent.
Meanwhile, the arrivals who have survived are interned behind wire
in a small military area on the perimeter of the island’s airfield
while the authorities decide what to do with them. Until 2003, this
was reasonably straightforward. Although thousands of migrants landed
on Lampedusa and the neighbouring islands, hundreds were sent on to
Sicily each week, where they were allowed to go free. (They were never
allowed any legal status, however; the hope was that they would go elsewhere).
But objections to this from Sicilians led the authorities to start sending
them to the Italian mainland. This, in turn, led to protests and demonstrations
in Rome, to which the authorities again bowed.
This was when the problem really began: most of the migrants cannot
be sent home because their own countries refuse to take them back and
no extradition treaties exist. Those who move on automatically lose
any rights they have under the Geneva United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) convention to apply for asylum or refugee status.
None have identity papers; they are trapped. There is little the authorities
can do except simply hold them where they are.
Living near the Straits of Gibraltar and in Italy has given me a first-hand
insight into the migrants’ plight. Many of them are Christians
and programs to provide Scriptures to those who want them have been
in place for many years. The problem is widespread throughout the Mediterranean,
though most acute in Italy, Spain and Greece.
I have also visited Lampedusa many times. Christian leaders there
try to provide humanitarian aid and ask for Scriptures to help alleviate
boredom in the camp. I delivered a large quantity for the North Africans,
paid for by a gift from Switzerland. But despite having high-level contacts
in the carabinieri I was unable to get inside the camp myself,
so I gave the Scriptures to the local pastor to distribute instead.
In June I learned that a further consignment of Scriptures from a
stock I had sent to Rome in 2004 had mostly been delivered inside the
camp, though not without considerable difficulty: the authorities are
very embarrassed about conditions for the inmates – especially
the children – and refuse to let outsiders in. The week before
my visit a delegation of UNHCR representatives had been refused entry.
Wonderful stories of conversion will not be found on Lampedusa. This
is more a time for sowing seeds of love and concern for people in desperate
need. In Rome earlier this year, I met people who had been on the ‘Refugee
Highway’ having come to Europe via Lampedusa. They were well aware
that only true believers had extended the hand of friendship to them
and those human contacts are something they will never forget.
When I asked some migrants to describe their worst experience, they
all said that having endured a journey of more than a year to escape
war, famine and poverty, they expected to find sympathy, work and respect
and instead they suffered rejection. Now, many would love to go home,
but without papers they cannot, and in many cases their governments
would either refuse to have them back, or imprison them or worse.
Asked what their best experience had been, almost all gave an identical
response. “We met someone who smiled at us, who gave us food, who
treated us like human beings.” By all accounts, this is rare.
Overcrowded
Bodies
Controversial
Asylum
Insight
Rejection
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| Part of the fence on the island of Lampedusa that at any one time keeps prisoner between 10,000 and 20,000 migrants seeking a new life in Europe. Photo: UBS/Graham Hutt (ITA05DJ-3.JPG) |
I have seen the tireless efforts of dedicated missionaries in the Arabian Gulf and I have often heard it said that they were wasting their time. But I have also seen the respect their tireless work evoked from local people, even years after their death. They were sowers and they saw little fruit, but today all over the Arabian Gulf others are reaping the fruits of their labours. The same will be true of Christians’ work amongst migrants.
Postscript: At an open meeting of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe, held at London City Hall in October, I heard a Member of the European Parliament describe her experience when visiting Lampedusa as part of a delegation earlier this year. She said there were just 11 migrants in the camp, their living conditions were excellent and they did not know what all the fuss was about! Struck by the stark contrast this made with the reports by CNN, the BBC and others, I spoke to her about it afterwards. When I told her about the CNN report and accounts I had heard from local carabinieri, she looked at me in disbelief. (WR 398/7 - 12.05) [2 photos]