October 2005
Fall greetings from Italy!We hope this letter finds you well!
We are enjoying the cooler days of an Indian summer here in Rome,
as life has resumed its normal pace, and we settle into a routine
again.
In our last newsletter, we shared with you a more in-depth view
of Confronti and its work, touching on the rising humanitarian
issue of immigrants arriving in Italy and the harrowing journeys
they have endured to get here. In this letter we’d like
share a story from Franca Di Lecce who works in the migrant and
refugee services connected to Confronti’s office.
When we see on television or read in the headlines of newspapers
about the numerous landings of thousands of clandestine immigrants
(men, women, and children) on Italy’s shores, many think
that this voyage (the crossing of the sea from the coast of North
Africa to Italy) is their only one. The truth is tragically different.
Traveling on these boats and risking their lives on the waves
is only the last stage of a hellish journey.
It begins as a desperate flight across Africa that can last months,
during which these illegal migrants endure violence, robbery,
torture, and racketeering of every sort. It is a secret voyage,
which is little known to the outside world. In an effort to uncover
and understand it, an Italian journalist endured this journey
and then reported about it. He first told of the trek through
miles of desert between Niger and Libya.
“It is a terrible trip. For many migrants the escape begins
from a country in central Africa. It is seen as a liberation from
famine, civil war, or a military regimen in a world without a
future where the most fortunate live on only 60 or 70 dollars
a month. Some sell everything they have in order to put together
enough money for their journey of hope. They leave sons, wives,
family, everyone. But few imagine what awaits them. The journey
begins on old trains, overcrowded buses, minibuses, and trucks.
They travel thousands of miles for days and days under the sun
in the middle of the desert, with little food, little water, and
just a backpack. From Agadez, the city of the Tuareg people in
Niger, approximately 15,000 migrants leave every month, but not
all reach their destination.”
The trafficking of migrants to Italy is big business for the
police and armed forces of both Niger and Libya. But because these
countries are not signatories to the Geneva Convention, outside
appeals regarding their human rights abuses have little affect.
At every checkpoint each immigrant must pay a bribe to the soldiers
and agents of Niger (about 19 dollars), but as the soldiers search
the migrants, it is routine to take anything they can find, often
all the money they have for their entire trip to Europe (from
800 to 1000 dollars). There are twelve checkpoints between Niger
and Libya. During these searches victims are not only robbed of
everything, but they also endure violence and torture.
Without money or any other resources, the migrants are forced
to work like slaves for weeks in order to earn enough to resume
their travel. Often the girls become prostitutes. Those that survive
the hunger, hard work, and violence reach Libya by stealing away
on a truck or a dangerous old van loaded with people. Still ahead
are at least ten days of travel during which dozens of persons
die from thirst, fatigue, and accidents, leaving the desert full
of improvised graves. One is lucky to reach the border of Libya,
yet here things do not improve. Often the border is closed, leaving
the migrants unable to go forward or return. They wait days and
days in the hot sun often without food or water, and are frequently
mistreated by the soldiers (kicked and whipped with electrical
wires).
When they finally arrive at the coast of Libya or Tunisia, many
are depleted of money or resources, and if they do not have relatives
or friends to take them in, they must endure the same process
again. They have to work (or resort to prostitution) for some
months in order to earn the money for the travel by boat to Italy.
Often the unseaworthy boats are shipwrecked soon after their
departure, and the migrants that survive are then arrested in
the total absence of the respect of their rights. When they are
released from jail they try anew, their journey of hope.
Those landing on Italy’s shores have already endured many
obstacles and hardships. And when they finally arrive, what awaits
them on the other side? A controversy that rages in Italy and
the rest of Europe about how to deal with them. The processing
center at Lampedusa, Italy, has repeatedly had to close its doors,
with as many as 1,300 migrants arriving in a 36-hour span, to
a facility built to hold only 190 persons. Many are refused asylum
and deported, at least somewhat kindly returned by air instead
of the horrific mode in which they arrived. It’s predicted
that 167,000 more will attempt this crossing in the near future.
Is history to repeat itself as these tired and weary travelers
arrive their promised land, only to discover themselves unwelcome
in a hostile land?
Grace and Peace,
Terry and Michele Finseth
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
183 |
