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ITALY / WAITING FOR ASYLUM
STORY: ITALY / WAITING FOR ASYLUM
TRT: 4.54
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 07 NOVEMBER 2013, CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY
1. Various shots, Cara Mineo Residence, Catania, Sicily
2. Various shots, Asylum seekers in crowd
3. Exterior shot, Mohamed’s house
4. Close up, Mohamed
5. Wide shot, Mohamed and his roommates
6. Med shot, Mohamed and roommate
7. Close up, Roomate from Nigeria
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed, Senegalese asylum seeker:
”Last time, 300 Africans lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. So that is very painful. It’s very painful in the world. Everybody has seen it. So still we see what the Italian government did for those black people. They go inside the sea and rescued most of people who alive and those who lost their life they take the body outside. And they take their body back to their country. We are very happy for that Italian government for done all that things. But we need documents.
9. Close up, Hands
10. Close up, Roomate from Mali
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigerian asylum seeker:
“Most people I met in this camp, most of them have spent two or three years no papers, so they should guarantee us freedom [to work] and give us papers so we can leave this place.”
12. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Mohamed, Asylum seeker:
“Many different countries are here: Syria, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. We are all patient and we are happy but the only thing is that we appeal to the Italian Government to give us documents.”
13. Med shot, man cooking
14. Close up, Food on plate
15. Med shot, Mohamed and his roommates
16. Exterior shot, Mohamed’s house
17. Med shot, Denise waling with colleague
18. Med shot, Asylum seeker in crowd
19. SOUNDBITE (English), Representative of Cara Mineo Commuity:
“Some people have been staying here for nine months, ten months….and day in and day out people are coming inside and no-one is going out and it is making a big violence.”
20. Med shot, Denise reading petition
21. Med shot, crowd
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Denise, Vice President Cara Mineo:
“People are here six, eight, nine, ten months it is not easy because every single one of them has their story and the Commission calls maybe only ten people a day. My job is very very hard because if I look in his eyes, I see myself and I would like some answers correctly for them.”
23. Med shot, Crowd gathering around Denise
24. Various shots, People selling clothes from their houses
25. Med shot, Blessing changing diapers for her baby son
26. Wide shot, Blessing in her room/shop
27. Close up, Blessing’s baby son
28. SOUNDBITE (English), Nigerian asylum seeker:
“So now they give me one year documents because I have waited a lot of time here, so now I am going to leave the camp next week, they have found a place for me to stay with me and my baby.”
9. Close up, Blessing’s baby son
30. Med shot, Women in Blessing’s shop
31. Wide shot, Man on phone
32. Close up, Man on phone
33. Wide shot, Men playing football
34. Various shots, Sunset over Cara Mineo
Sicily has one of the highest numbers of asylum seekers in Italy due to its strategic location.
In 2011, in response to the influx of refugees arriving in the wake of the Arab Spring, the governate of Sicily in conjunction with local municipality of Catania set up Cara Mineo, an open reception centre where asylum seekers can live whilst their cases are processed.
Due to large numbers living here, over 4,000 now, the wait can take anything from six months to a year. In the meantime, the management tries to find ways to make the time pass quicker, providing training courses, Italian classes, but meeting the needs of so many is a real challenge.
A small village sits in the middle of the Sicilian countryside, multi-colored houses joined by paved roads, create the impression of a quiet suburb.
But this is no ordinary suburb. This is home to Cara Mineo Residence, one of Europe’s largest reception centers for asylum seekers.
Over 4,000 people live here. All have fled their home countries in search of safety and security.
Mohamed from Senegal spent months crossing the Sahara desert to get to Libya. But when war broke out, he no longer felt safe.
His roommates are from Mali and Nigeria. They survived their journeys to Europe but many don’t.
Only one month before Mohamed’s journey, an overcrowded boat carrying over 500 migrants caught fire and sank.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed, Senegalese asylum seeker:
”Last time, 300 Africans lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. So that is very painful. It’s very painful in the world. Everybody has seen it. So still we see what the Italian government did for those black people. They go inside the sea and rescued most of people who alive and those who lost their life they take the body outside. And they take their body back to their country. We are very happy for that Italian government for done all that things. But we need documents.”
Most arrived first on Lampedusa and were then transferred here. Trying to process so many cases means wait times are long.
SOUNDBITE (English) Nigerian asylum seeker:
“Most people I met in this camp, most of them have spent two or three years no papers, so they should guarantee us freedom [to work] and give us papers so we can leave this place.”
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Mohamed, Asylum seeker:
“Many different countries are here: Syria, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. We are all patient and we are happy but the only thing is that we appeal to the Italian Government to give us documents.”
Cara Mineo was created as an emergency response to the influx of asylum seekers from across Africa and the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Economic hardship, uncertainty and war have kept the numbers up. Especially here in Sicily, which has one of the highest numbers of pending asylum cases in Italy.
Denise is the Vice President of Cara Mineo. Today she receives a petition from the residents.
SOUNDBITE (English), Representative of Cara Mineo Commuity:
“Some people have been staying here for nine months, ten months….and day in and day out people are coming inside and no-one is going out and it is making a big violence.”
Denise tries to calm the situation.
SOUNDBITE (English) Denise, Vice President Cara Mineo:
“People are here six, eight, nine, ten months it is not easy because every single one of them has their story and the Commission calls maybe only ten people a day. My job is very very hard because if I look in his eyes, I see myself and I would like some answers correctly for them.”
With 4000 people to process, days turn into weeks and weeks into months.
People find ways to pass the time selling whatever they can to make some extra money.
Blessing arrived from Nigeria two and half years ago. She set up a small shop in her front room to help her get by.
She was rejected twice but she heard today that she has finally been accepted.
SOUNDBITE (English), Nigerian asylum seeker:
“So now they give me one year documents because I have waited a lot of time here, so now I am going to leave the camp next week, they have found a place for me to stay with me and my baby.”
Blessing has a guarantee that she can stay -at least for a while-. This is what she fought so hard for. This is what everyone here wants: a chance.
With every application that is approved -no matter the wait- a life has been changed.
It is this chance that pushes desperate people to take deadly risks in order to reach Europe.
Risks outweighed by even the faintest glimmer of hope.
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