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What practical action can we take?
From the African culture blog, we can see and appreciate the enormous life change any migrant undergoes when he is forced to leave his counyrt of origin. No single person or institution can compensate for such a tidal wave of change which must ivest, first of all , the psychological sphere of every single migrant. The City Farm project I suggest in my Development Plan is just one small way in which we can bring a little normality back into their lives.

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For the previous two courses I have given my thoughts and ideas about the issues surrounding newly arrived migrants in my region - Calabria, Italy. I recently came across the African Culture blog, based in London, describing the current situation in Calabria. I found it interesting and revealing and would like to share it with you.

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Nigerians and Gambians are the leading African Nationals getting married to Italian citizens with whom they have children. Many are still unable to gain a residence permit. Some organisations such as the CIE (Centri di Identificazione ed Espulsione); who apply for asylum on their behalf, some already gone on territorial commission, and awaits the outcome. When it was pointed out that, even within the CIE would have to tell his wife and children Italian has repeatedly reiterated that “the law is not equal for all.”

Nigerian women unfortunately are very well known amongst Italian Authorities to be part of an very sophisticated yet growing sex trafficking ring. For nearly three decades since the late 1970s, Nigerians travelling to Italy on work visas to pick tomatoes realised that selling sex was far easier and more profitable than harvesting fruits or vegetables. Around 12,000 Nigerian girls or women arrived in Italy by sea in 2015 and 2016, data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) shows – a six-fold increase on the previous two years.

“Nigerian prostitutes frequently end up working as recruiters or “madams” for new arrivals from Africa, prosecutors say. These former sex workers also help with the logistics of slavery, driving trafficking victims to the cities where they become prostitutes. Victims of sex trafficking often do not want to point the finger at the madams or pimps because they are worried about repercussions or juju.”

(Source: Catania-based Prosector Lino Trovato)

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There are a number of Africans who successfully applied for their refugee status 15-20 years ago – who once they have been given their right to remain and Italian citizenship; they move to the UK and London. Italian Citizens of Nigerian, Ghanaian and Congolese origin lead the way in this department. Including those from Commonwealth and French speaking countries. This illustrates how even within long-term refugee communities still aim to move and not settle in Italy. Another common way to legally move out is to get married (legally) to an Italian national and be given Italian citizenship within two years – though this is currently being reviewed. Agriculture and ‘free jobs’ also represent an avenue for money for some Asylum seekers and refugees. 70% of African refugees in Sicily work in Agriculture. The volunteers are doing much more then the government itself – informal schools and NGOs have been set up almost entirely on volunteer led initiatives on the island.

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The Doctors Without Borders Campaign (also known by its French acronym MSF) rescue ship “Bourbon Argos” landed in the Italian port of Reggio Calabria, on a Thursday morning in September 2016, with 239 migrants and refugees on board. This is a daily occurrence especially at the Reggio Calabria port.

“I am happy arrived by boat from Libya, a big boat from Germany came to rescue us. They took us to the port of Bari… Then in groups of 22 we were taken to a police station by bus. It took about 45 minutes… The police were asking us to give the fingerprints. I refused, like all the others, including some women. Ten police came and took me, first, and hit me with a stick on both the back and right wrist. In the room there were 10 police, all uniformed. Some took my hands back, some hold my face. They kept hitting me, perhaps for 15 minutes. Then they used a stick with electricity, they put it on my chest and gave me electricity. I fell down, I could see but not move. At that point, they put my hands on the machine. After me, I saw other migrants being beaten with a stick. Then another man told me he also had electricity discharged on his chest. Then they just left me on the street, they said I could go wherever I wanted. I stayed there for three days, almost unable to move.”

(Source: AsylumInEurope)

19-year-old Castro fled the Sudanese government’s attacks on civilians in Darfur, which killed his two brothers and his 8-year-old sister. He then escaped hunger at the refugee camp in Touloum, Chad, following cuts in food and water provisions. Having travelled through Libya, he arrived in Italy in July 2016.

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The vast majority of sea arrivals to Italy continue to leave from Libya (88%) as seen with the UNHCR September 2016 ReliefWeb Stats below. Consistently with such trend, Libya remained the main country of departure in September. During the month, Sabratha was reported as the most common departure point. Furthermore, men continue to represent the vast majority (70%) among sea arrivals, while adult women account for 14% of the total. UASC (Unaccompanied and Separated Children) also represent 14% of all persons arriving by sea since the beginning of the year.

This is a sharp increase from the 7% share they accounted for in 2015. Their numbers almost doubled when compared to the first nine months of last year (10,133 in January-September 2015 vs 19,001 so far in 2016). Over 2,100 UASC were disembarked in the month of September alone. Gender and age profiles vary significantly among different national groups. Higher proportions of women are observed among Nigerian arrivals (women account for 29% of the total), as well as among nationals of Somalia (25%), Cameroon (25%), Ethiopia (24%) and Eritrea (22%).

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Nigerians, Gambians, Eritreans and Guineans represent the largest number of Africans arriving to Southern Italy every week. I was fortunate enough to speak French, Hausa and Bambara with Malian, Guinean, Togolese, Cameroonian and Nigerian nationals. The Nigerian community are well numbered and scattered across the Calabria region. The Gambian community are well knit and the same can be said of Malians. Journalists, Researchers, Photographers and others that visit Riace and other notable sites are often disliked by many of the refugee locals. Taking photos without permission, twisting words that they say and rather strong ‘us and them attitudes’ many foreigners have upon arrival hinder and do not help these refugees.

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africancultureblog@gmail.com

African Migrants in Calabria

November 15, 2016

The number of African migrants arriving in Italy by the week and by the month is quite simply put; a remarkable worry. With more than 160,000 arrivals in 2016, Italy has received almost the same number of refugees as Greece this year, and by year’s end it may surpass Greece as Europe’s new focal point for refugee flows, according to recent statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees.

Whilst working with various Nigerian, Eritrean, Somali, Ghanaian, Sudanese, Togolese and other African refugees here in Calabria; it is fair to say this well under spoken but growing epidemic has and is under-reported by British Media. The graphs and data below illustrates the number of Applications granted during the first half of 2015; these will be nothing compared to the results that will be released for the 2016 season shortly. This blog post is a sort of informal urban ethnographic report on African refugees living in Calabria.

Some of the very useful organisations working with and supporting Refugees in Calabria

I have been very encouraged by the work on the ground from organisations such as CAEP Italia, CARITAS, Kairos Europe, Itaka Training and Aware Migrants in this area. These projects (as well as assisting with the humanitarian side of things) also aim to raise awareness among potential migrants about the dangerous journey across the desert and the Mediterranean. Aware Migrants for example have a platform mainly consists of videotaped stories and accounts narrated by migrants themselves.  It is a project addressing migrants in transit and potential migrants in their countries of origin that aims to raise awareness on migration