ITALY / MIGRANT RESCUE

Over 1,200 migrants were rescued from inflatable boats off the boast of Lampedusa last week (7 Feb) by the Italian navy. Young men, women and children, crammed into eight dinghies and a boat, were spotted by helicopter halfway betweenTunisiaandItaly. UNHCR

 

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:03:36
• Production Date: 15 February 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS; HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• Geographic Subject: SOMALIA; SYRIA; ITALY
• MAMS Id: U140215b

Description

STORY: ITALY / MIGRANT RESCUE
TRT: 3:36
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ARABIC/ITALIAN/NATS

DATELINE: 7 FEBRUARY 2014, AUGSTA, SICILY

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, San Marco ship pulling into harbor
2. Med shot, San Marco
3. Wide shot, port staff waiting for arrival
4. Med shot, UNHCR staff
5. Wide shot, migrants getting off boat
6. Med shot, migrants walking
7. Med shot, men with insulation sheets on their legs
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Unidentified, UNHCR staff:
“We are in the south of Italy, the name of this island is Sicily, the name of this place is Augusta, you have been rescued by the Italian army, the big ship, you start the first step of the procedure as the police took your fingerprints right, now you will be transferred to small centres.”
9. Wide shot, tents with migrants walking
10. Med shot, men stand in line
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Unidentified, Somali Migrant:
“They hit me and took my clothes and tortured me.”
12. Med shot, migrant
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Somali Migrant:
“This man came from Leish Divya in a huge truck carrying cement.. there were 700 of them, each one paid $600, they all hiding behind sacks of cement so that the police wouldn’t find them at the checkpoint, the cement was above them and it burst and 18 people died of suffocation beneath.”
14. Various shots, migrants being given food and water
15. Med shot, tent from outside
16. Various shots, Syrian families
17. Med shot, Abu Ahmad and his family
18. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abu Ahmad, Syrian Refugee:
“I left Syria because of the war, the shelling and the destruction. I left to Egypt and it was difficult there too, after this I took my family and went to Libya. But there is was difficult too, we then got on the boat to go to Italy we almost drowned before the Red Cross and the Italian navy who saved us. Thank God we are on Italian soil.”
19. Various shots, Syrian families leaving
20. Med shot, men outside tent
21. Med shot, sunset at port

Storyline

A new arrival at the port of Augusta in Sicily. This boat is bringing to safety over 1,000 migrants found floating off the coast of Lampedusa.

Young men, children and pregnant women were crammed into inflatable boats - undertaking a dangerous journey in search of a better life in Europe.

Many aren’t even sure where they’ve landed.

SOUNDBITE (English) Unidentified, UNHCR staff:
“We are in the south of Italy, the name of this island is Sicily, the name of this place is Augusta, you have been rescued by the Italian army, the big ship, you start the first step of the procedure as the police took your fingerprints right, now you will be transferred to small centres.”

So many nationalities are here today Somalia, Eritrea, Gambia, Mali. Many have suffered great hardships on the way.

This man translates for his friend who was imprisoned in Libya for not having the right papers.

SOUNDBITE (French) Unidentified, Somali Migrant:
“They hit me and took my clothes and tortured me¨”

The journey to come here can takes months, but not everyone survives.

SOUNDBITE (French) Somali Migrant:
“This man came from Leish Divya (in Somalia) in a huge truck carrying cement. There were 700 of them, each one paid $600, they all hiding behind sacks of cement so that the police wouldn’t find them at the checkpoint, the cement was above them and it burst and 18 people died of suffocation beneath.”

The migrants are given food, medicine and temporary shelter - a moment of respite and calm - they will then be transferred to reception centres across mainland Italy where their claims for asylum will be processed

Amongst those rescued - over 50 Syrians, fleeing the conflict in their home country.

Abu Ahmad left Syria over a year ago, passing through Egypt and Libya. Each leg of the journey meant relying on illegal smugglers.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abu Ahmad, Syrian Refugee:
“I been here for let Syria because of the war, the shelling and the destruction. I left to Egypt and it was difficult there too, after this I took my family and went to Libya. But there is was difficult too, we then got on the boat to go to Italy we almost drowned before the Red Cross and the Italian navy who saved us. Thank
God we are on Italian soil.”

Italy is only the beginning of Abu Ahmad’s journey in Europe. He hopes to take his family north to Germany or Sweden, although without papers he doesn’t know how far he can go, he just knows he won’t return to Syria.

This year has seen record numbers of migrants arriving in Italy, government statistics reveal the numbers to be in excess of 42,000 , three times as many as in 2012.