FOR EFFECTIVE SOLIDARITY WITH THE REFUGEES HOSTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MESSINA (SICILY) AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, PROF. PIETRO NAVARRA, ON THE IMMIGRATION EMERGENCY AND THE UNIVERSITY In October 2013, following what is possibly the most dreadful shipwreck that ever occurred off the shores of Lampedusa, the municipality of Messina offered to accommodate some of the asylum seekers that arrived on the island. Due to the lack of adequate shelter, the Prefecture [representing the central government of Italy in a province] of Messina requested that the local university make some of its buildings available for this purpose. The Prefecture’s “Security Committee”, after rejecting the university student houses as incompatible with proper surveillance, decided to co-opt the “Palanebiolo” sports center to receive the first cohort of 180 asylum seekers. Between October and December, a first group of men and minors was accommodated in an emergency dormitory set up in the indoor basketball court. Yet the “Palanebiolo” was clearly inadequate for the basic needs of such a large number of people, and soon health and hygiene problems arose. Some people suspected to suffer from scabies were discovered and isolated in the bathrooms’ anti- chamber. Moreover, three weeks after their arrival in Messina, some asylum seekers were still in pain from the injuries and traumas they had suffered during their long journey to Sicily: the volunteers who offered legal assistance reported tens of such cases, left unaddressed. The most glaring case – yet not the only one – is that of a young man with a leg fracture due to firearm who was not granted access to the hospital for unexplained bureaucratic reasons. While this first phase of the emergency was fading out and asylum seekers were being sent to more adequate centers (Cara and Sprar) elsewhere in Italy, a tent camp was set up in the “Palanebiolo” baseball field in order to accommodate about 250 people (thus exposing them to rain, cold and mud). At this point, the municipality entered into a real institutional conflict with the Prefecture and proposed an alternative site (the residence “Le Dune”) which the Prefecture did not even consider for technical and legal reasons. Early in December, for a few days, the “Palanebiolo” was completely emptied, yet the tent camp was left standing. While the local press claimed that the “Palanebiolo” keys had been finally returned to the university administration, many wondered about the tent camp left in place. The answer came soon: a second batch of 160 men, women and minors were quartered there. However, this time the Prefecture’s strategy had changed: the newcomers were quickly redirected elsewhere and new arrivals followed rapidly. During this second phase, the local press confirmed a rumor that had been circulating for a while: the university of Messina had joined a new program – not established by the immigration law – aimed at creating new sorting facilities, where illegal migrants and asylum seekers awaiting transfer to regular immigrations centers could be temporarily housed. Thus, the “Palanebiolo” sports center, which belongs to the University of Messina, had become a participant in a tragic story of containment and substantial limitation of the rights in force in Europe. This participation was due to the joint decision of the Prefecture of Messina and the Italian Home Office to house hundreds of people in a building inadequate for that use, after having firmly refused to let them be placed elsewhere on the territory, despite the declared availability of local associations, families and churches. During the past twenty years, research on humanitarian emergencies has shown that situations similar to that in Messina today, born under the rhetoric of solidarity, have unfortunately resulted in ghettoizing migrants, dehumanizing them and depriving them of their basic freedoms, resorting to “states of exception” that are indefensible on both theoretical and legal grounds. In view of these arguments and in support of the solidarity principle that certainly guided the President of the University of Messina when he first granted the use of the “Palanebiolo” field to the Prefecture, we - professors, researchers, students and citizens - ask that the President, Prof. Pietro Navarra:
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FOR EFFECTIVE SOLIDARITY WITH THE REFUGEES HOSTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
MESSINA (SICILY)
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, PROF. PIETRO NAVARRA,
ON THE IMMIGRATION EMERGENCY AND THE UNIVERSITY
In October 2013, following what is possibly the most dreadful shipwreck that ever occurred off the
shores of Lampedusa, the municipality of Messina offered to accommodate some of the asylum seekers that
arrived on the island.
Due to the lack of adequate shelter, the Prefecture [representing the central government of Italy in a
province] of Messina requested that the local university make some of its buildings available for this
purpose. The Prefecture’s “Security Committee”, after rejecting the university student houses as
incompatible with proper surveillance, decided to co-opt the “Palanebiolo” sports center to receive the first
cohort of 180 asylum seekers. Between October and December, a first group of men and minors was
accommodated in an emergency dormitory set up in the indoor basketball court. Yet the “Palanebiolo” was
clearly inadequate for the basic needs of such a large number of people, and soon health and hygiene
problems arose.
Some people suspected to suffer from scabies were discovered and isolated in the bathrooms’ anti-
chamber. Moreover, three weeks after their arrival in Messina, some asylum seekers were still in pain from
the injuries and traumas they had suffered during their long journey to Sicily: the volunteers who offered
legal assistance reported tens of such cases, left unaddressed. The most glaring case – yet not the only one –
is that of a young man with a leg fracture due to firearm who was not granted access to the hospital for
unexplained bureaucratic reasons.
While this first phase of the emergency was fading out and asylum seekers were being sent to more
adequate centers (Cara and Sprar) elsewhere in Italy, a tent camp was set up in the “Palanebiolo” baseball
field in order to accommodate about 250 people (thus exposing them to rain, cold and mud).
At this point, the municipality entered into a real institutional conflict with the Prefecture and
proposed an alternative site (the residence “Le Dune”) which the Prefecture did not even consider for
technical and legal reasons. Early in December, for a few days, the “Palanebiolo” was completely emptied,
yet the tent camp was left standing. While the local press claimed that the “Palanebiolo” keys had been
finally returned to the university administration, many wondered about the tent camp left in place. The
answer came soon: a second batch of 160 men, women and minors were quartered there. However, this time
the Prefecture’s strategy had changed: the newcomers were quickly redirected elsewhere and new arrivals
followed rapidly. During this second phase, the local press confirmed a rumor that had been circulating for a
while: the university of Messina had joined a new program – not established by the immigration law – aimed
at creating new sorting facilities, where illegal migrants and asylum seekers awaiting transfer to regular
immigrations centers could be temporarily housed.
Thus, the “Palanebiolo” sports center, which belongs to the University of Messina, had become a
participant in a tragic story of containment and substantial limitation of the rights in force in Europe. This
participation was due to the joint decision of the Prefecture of Messina and the Italian Home Office to house
hundreds of people in a building inadequate for that use, after having firmly refused to let them be placed
elsewhere on the territory, despite the declared availability of local associations, families and churches.
During the past twenty years, research on humanitarian emergencies has shown that situations
similar to that in Messina today, born under the rhetoric of solidarity, have unfortunately resulted in
ghettoizing migrants, dehumanizing them and depriving them of their basic freedoms, resorting to “states of
exception” that are indefensible on both theoretical and legal grounds.
In view of these arguments and in support of the solidarity principle that certainly guided the
President of the University of Messina when he first granted the use of the “Palanebiolo” field to the
Prefecture, we - professors, researchers, students and citizens - ask that the President, Prof. Pietro Navarra:
1. Call a public assembly, open to the academic, administrative and student communities, and
to the V Borough, so as to activate the university’s capability to identify alternative
solutions;
2. Second what has been previously done by other universities in similar situations and
establish an ad hoc committee, composed of scholars specialized in law, medicine and social
sciences, so as to assist and support the asylum seekers and the migrants;
3. Start and promote a solidarity campaign aiming at finding housing for the asylum seekers in
students’, professors’ and university staff’s homes.
4. Revoke the permit for the present use of the “Palanebiolo” field
5. Sponsor a new institutional forum that will bring together the City Council, the Prefecture
and all concerned authorities, in order to discuss alternative solutions.
Those interested in supporting this initiative, can send an email to: Pietro Saitta ([email protected] or
email directly to the President of the University of Messina, Prof. Pietro Navarra: [email protected]; and to