The landings of immigrants have always been a significant part of the political "issues" of many western countries.
One of the greatest examples of immigration occurred during the period of the famous “American Dream”. In fact, after the beginning of the Industrial Revolution many peoples from the Old World - Italians, Poles, Greeks, Russians and Jews - began to cross the Ocean hoping to find a way to improve their lives and to give a better future to their children.
For the same reason today we learn about a lot of tragic cases of North African people arriving by barges along the coasts, especially in Italy. Lampedusa’s hotspot is currently hosting nearly 2400 immigrants. The latest episode occurred at the beginning of March, when over 700 migrants from Ciad, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Congo and Mali started their journey from Sfax (Tunisia). They sailed the Mediterranean Sea in inhumane conditions and in the end landed on the coast after having risked their lives escaping the misery, war and injustice of their home countries.
Many are the shipwrecks that characterize these arrivals. Most of the women and children on the boat on the 8th March 2023 never got to their dream destination, sadly they didn’t make it alive.
After this episode, during a conference the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, announced that new measures are to be taken for human smugglers. If there are deaths, as recorded in another tragic shipwreck in Cutro (26th February 2023), the sentence to be served will be up to 30 years’ imprisonment.
It’s unimaginable what these desperate people have to come through to lead a decent life and the risks they have to take to get here. Politicians are often heard talking about the negative impact of immigration on our economic and social system but it’s rare to see an actual effort to solve this problem helping immigrants. No one deserves to be treated as the ones on these boats, with no space to move in, with no chance to change their minds, and with no possibility of speaking their mind.
Ludovica Occhipinti
