One of the beds at the Center for Asylum Seekers
CROTONE — At least 70 people: that's the death toll of the shipwreck 10 days ago of the Turkish boat that crashed near the southern Italian coast of Calabria. Sixteen were children.
But there is now also the fate of the 98 survivors to consider. And human rights lawyers have discovered that they are being housed in the former Reception Center for Asylum Seekers of Crotone. Some in Italy may remember that several years ago this same facility was discovered to be part of an investigation of misappropriation of European funds by the Calabrian mafia, the 'Ndrangheta. Investigators then found poor conditions in the center, including the serving of spoiled food to the migrants it housed.
Now the facility is back at the center of the storm because of the conditions of the survivors of the Feb. 26 shipwreck, which occurred on the coast near the city of Crotone.
“They are being held arbitrarily in two sheds that are inadequate not only for those who escaped a terrible shipwreck, but for any human being," says Alessandra Sciurba, professor at the University of Palermo and coordinator of the Migration and Rights Legal Clinic. "It must be closed."
Sciurba pointed out the paradox of the outpouring from Italians over the deaths, and the conditions of the survivors. “On one side there is a country that is moved by this tragedy, on the other side there are people who are denied their rights.”
Together with Franco Mari, a parliamentarian from the Italian Left party, she visited the facility last Saturday, which she says: “could only be used as a space for a flock of sheep.”
Inhumane conditions
Sciurba says she was not expecting such a sight: "It is a situation that perhaps can be accepted in emergency situation for the first four hours. After that is illegal.”
Sciurba and and Mari described the conditions: There are about 40 beds with foam mattresses without sheets, another 50 or 60 people sleep on iron benches; women and men share the same bathroom. The survivors have only been given flip-flops instead of shoes. And there is no heating.
Moreover, says Sciurba: “they can’t go out when they want, they can’t visit the remains of their relatives who died at sea unless escorted by the police force, they can’t share mourning with the ones who have arrived from all over the world.”
Rebound of responsibility
It is not clear under what legal rationale the migrants are being held.
“If it were a hotspot it would require validation by a judge, and instead there isn't any,” explains lawyer Lidia Vicchio.
A pool of lawyers and academics from Asgi, an association that focuses on legal aspects of immigration, has been working to assess the situation in recent days.
By law, survivors of such a situation should not be in this facility.
Vicchio’s note is a bold indictment of the institutions: “From direct observation at the former Center, we have noted the total absence of clear and precise indications from the (national) government and the (local) prefecture."
It is unclear who should be in charge and who should ensure support for the families of the victims of the shipwreck. The management of this situation has been dumped completely on the local administration and on the local and non-local associations that were present.”
By law, survivors of such a situation should not be in this facility, “but in the Emergency Reception Centers established by the Ministry of the Interior in 2015, where people’s stay is limited to the definition of their legal position.” Once this step is completed, they are to be transferred to Reception and Integration System facilities.
"Not an option, but the law"
The transfer — the lawyer argues — “is not an option, but the law,” and “to this day, guests are held, without any distinction of gender, including minors, in a single room.”
Yet, open spots in the region's Reception and Integration System facilities “were and are available... as early as March 1, as many as 44 immediately available places had been tracked down that could, and can, accommodate these survivors.”
In addition, not only should refugees be identified and housed in appropriate centers, but they should also be “informed on the procedure for international protection and the relocation program to other EU member states is ensured.” This has not yet been done either.
