These are small gestures, but they do a lot: on the Italian island of Lampedusa to help the residents of the thousands of refugees - sometimes they cook, they sometimes pay cigarettes. But some locals have had enough: The migrants deter tourists, they say. "Just a little couscous?" With a large scoop shovel Anna Lisa D'Ancona vegetables and noodles on plastic plates.
In front of her crowd refugees. "Thanks, that's very friendly," says one of the Tunisians in French. "Grab it, that's for you all," Anna Lisa replied in Italian. Four kilograms of pasta and two and a half kilograms couscous has cooked them all for free. But it is not nearly enough for everyone.
Almost 2,000 refugees are still on Lampedusa, this small island in the Mediterranean. Together with other local Annalisa has dragged three cooking pots to a place in the heart of Lampedusa, he is just "Freedom Square". A spontaneous action, says Anna Lisa, "but eating together as the best solidarity." It is not the first time that they cook for refugees.
Lampedusa is closer to Africa than to Europe, and again make it weakened hither North Africans who dream of a better future. Long boats were no longer landed. The problem was solved, the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced full-bodied in the i last year. But now the problem is bigger than ever before.
Lampedusa and suddenly again in the headlines of world press. The refugees were quickly taken to the former camps and locked away behind the metal grating, they now wander the streets of the small town, playing football, sitting at the port. The police released the T open to the refugee center.
There are simply too many come. Corral thousands of Tunisians in a camp that accommodates only 800, you can not. All of Lampedusa is now a refugee camp. "We are very happy in the part of the world have grown up" The inhabitants of the island range from anger and indifference, between rejection and helpfulness.
What if the men have no money for food? What if among the refugees and prisoners who escaped from prison? A man in town says he has experienced the threat firsthand. Three Tunisians had attacked him, she had stabbed him in the night in the arm with a bottle and injured his leg. He is now wearing a large bandage around his arm and limping.
"In Lampedusa," he says, "we want no more illegals." Not all agree with him, perhaps because they have done themselves any bad experiences with the refugees. The north Africans wanted a better life for their families, said a cafe owner, pointing to his daughter, "I would perhaps come to Europe.
We are just in the happy part of the world grew up. "The people of Lampedusa wanted to help, but they too had at some point no more strength. The government must do something, but sitting in Rome," far away ". There is still no high season in Lampedusa . But Maurizio Palmeri is already worried.
He runs a hotel and fears for his business, "If tourists see the television images of the refugees, they are perhaps no longer here," he says, the turquoise blue waters and hidden coves lure normally. vacationers. travel organizers promise "warm light, circling seagulls," simply "unique and unforgettable vacation." At this season the main street is similar but more like a deserted western town.
Many blinds are down, some windows taped over with paper. The cars on the road to throw hard .. shadow And who walk along the harbor meets, and then again on the other Lampedusa, where store the boats, with which immigrants have come to the island - boats, painted in red, white and blue cobbled together, for fishing, not for the flight.
In the wood gaping holes, planks are torn, rusted the rail. The cabin of the ship with the inscription "HS 392" is broken. Under the bow of the Elemel "is a life jacket. One day lurch, often more, the refugees, so the lake. "Cemetery of the boats," the locals call these places. Farther inland, behind the port to store dozens of rotting barges.
A museum for the memories hides is also the Museum of the migrants. It's just a windowless room with stone floor, yet full of memories. Stored on wooden boards, what the refugees have left or verln: a comb, a cup, an ashtray. A phone book, a mirror, a fiddle. Korans and Bibles. "These are not the only things that are signs that tell something about people's dreams," says Anna Lisa, the cook of the "Freedom Square".
With friends, she has compiled the findings, which were on the beach or on the "graveyard of boats, many refugees were helped by the dead with them. In a folder, Anna Lisa and her colleagues have collected photos, the images are washed out of salt water and yellowed by the sun. Only the outlines of the faces are still visible, sometimes a woman smiles shyly at the camera, sometimes show young, self-confident men the victory sign to the camera.
"The photos are still beautiful," says Anna Lisa, "they are reminders of verlne life." The museum she runs with a friend for a few years. The 400 € rent they scrape together themselves. The local government does not support them. "All of this should be concealed as if it is not part of the island," says Anna Lisa.
"But all this is just to Lampedusa."
In front of her crowd refugees. "Thanks, that's very friendly," says one of the Tunisians in French. "Grab it, that's for you all," Anna Lisa replied in Italian. Four kilograms of pasta and two and a half kilograms couscous has cooked them all for free. But it is not nearly enough for everyone.
Almost 2,000 refugees are still on Lampedusa, this small island in the Mediterranean. Together with other local Annalisa has dragged three cooking pots to a place in the heart of Lampedusa, he is just "Freedom Square". A spontaneous action, says Anna Lisa, "but eating together as the best solidarity." It is not the first time that they cook for refugees.
Lampedusa is closer to Africa than to Europe, and again make it weakened hither North Africans who dream of a better future. Long boats were no longer landed. The problem was solved, the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni announced full-bodied in the i last year. But now the problem is bigger than ever before.
Lampedusa and suddenly again in the headlines of world press. The refugees were quickly taken to the former camps and locked away behind the metal grating, they now wander the streets of the small town, playing football, sitting at the port. The police released the T open to the refugee center.
There are simply too many come. Corral thousands of Tunisians in a camp that accommodates only 800, you can not. All of Lampedusa is now a refugee camp. "We are very happy in the part of the world have grown up" The inhabitants of the island range from anger and indifference, between rejection and helpfulness.
What if the men have no money for food? What if among the refugees and prisoners who escaped from prison? A man in town says he has experienced the threat firsthand. Three Tunisians had attacked him, she had stabbed him in the night in the arm with a bottle and injured his leg. He is now wearing a large bandage around his arm and limping.
"In Lampedusa," he says, "we want no more illegals." Not all agree with him, perhaps because they have done themselves any bad experiences with the refugees. The north Africans wanted a better life for their families, said a cafe owner, pointing to his daughter, "I would perhaps come to Europe.
We are just in the happy part of the world grew up. "The people of Lampedusa wanted to help, but they too had at some point no more strength. The government must do something, but sitting in Rome," far away ". There is still no high season in Lampedusa . But Maurizio Palmeri is already worried.
He runs a hotel and fears for his business, "If tourists see the television images of the refugees, they are perhaps no longer here," he says, the turquoise blue waters and hidden coves lure normally. vacationers. travel organizers promise "warm light, circling seagulls," simply "unique and unforgettable vacation." At this season the main street is similar but more like a deserted western town.
Many blinds are down, some windows taped over with paper. The cars on the road to throw hard .. shadow And who walk along the harbor meets, and then again on the other Lampedusa, where store the boats, with which immigrants have come to the island - boats, painted in red, white and blue cobbled together, for fishing, not for the flight.
In the wood gaping holes, planks are torn, rusted the rail. The cabin of the ship with the inscription "HS 392" is broken. Under the bow of the Elemel "is a life jacket. One day lurch, often more, the refugees, so the lake. "Cemetery of the boats," the locals call these places. Farther inland, behind the port to store dozens of rotting barges.
A museum for the memories hides is also the Museum of the migrants. It's just a windowless room with stone floor, yet full of memories. Stored on wooden boards, what the refugees have left or verln: a comb, a cup, an ashtray. A phone book, a mirror, a fiddle. Korans and Bibles. "These are not the only things that are signs that tell something about people's dreams," says Anna Lisa, the cook of the "Freedom Square".
With friends, she has compiled the findings, which were on the beach or on the "graveyard of boats, many refugees were helped by the dead with them. In a folder, Anna Lisa and her colleagues have collected photos, the images are washed out of salt water and yellowed by the sun. Only the outlines of the faces are still visible, sometimes a woman smiles shyly at the camera, sometimes show young, self-confident men the victory sign to the camera.
"The photos are still beautiful," says Anna Lisa, "they are reminders of verlne life." The museum she runs with a friend for a few years. The 400 € rent they scrape together themselves. The local government does not support them. "All of this should be concealed as if it is not part of the island," says Anna Lisa.
"But all this is just to Lampedusa."
- "1,000 migrants arrive on Italian island Lampedusa" and related posts (13/02/2011)
- Tunisian Refugees in Lampudesa: 'I Felt Very Near to Death' (16/02/2011)
- Pass notes No 2,928: Lampedusa (15/02/2011)
- Italy Struggles to Contain the Flood of Tunisians Fleeing Revolution (15/02/2011)
- Italy Struggles to Contain the Flood of Tunisians Fleeing Revolution - TIME (blog) (15/02/2011)
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