Mediterranean Hope – Newsletter July 2015
Summers in Lampedusa pass quickly and intensely. At the end of the winter, life changes in Lampedusa. Everything accelerates. Summer is the season of tourism and for us it means more occasions to open a dialogue. In addition to video makers, designers, photographers and researchers, tourists arrive. And, they change the atmosphere on the island. Tourists often stop at the pier, disoriented, staring at us while we bring water and biscuits to immigrants who have just landed. Their disorientation is not due to what they witness here, but to the distance between what they saw on TV and the actual reality in Lampedusa.
Read more of this article by Marta Bernardini and Francesco Piobbichi.
MOAS, MSF and Sea Watch: Independent Research and Rescue Services Following the End of Mare Nostrum
by Paolo Cuttitta (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) – If 2014 went down in history as the era of Mare Nostrum – rescuing people at sea through government and military humanitarian interventions – on the other hand 2015 will be remembered for a number of non-governmental and civic initiatives. This summer, in fact, three different non-governmental actors are playing a very decisive role by searching for boats heading towards the Italian coasts: MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station), operated by MSF (Medici Senza Frontiere, Doctors Without Borders) and Sea Watch. Read more
The sons and daughters of Lampedusa
by Marta Bernardini and Francesco Piobbichi – This is an island full of stories. Stories about the people who live on this rock because their families have been here for generations or because they decided to move here. Stories of those who stay here for a while and stories of those who arrive and leave again. Some stories are easier to tell and we are honoured to hear them directly from their keepers. Other stories remain suspended in the memory of few or among the waves of the sea. Read more
Greece-Africa: the loan trap
by Raffaele Masto – The outcome of the endless negotiations with Greece also concerns Africa. At the end of the negotiations and with Greece beaten, this link is more evident than ever. Many African economies, which until recently were called dynamic and fast growing, are now at a standstill. Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and other African “lions” have had to resort to loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Nothing serious, these countries are still promising in strict economic terms. Read more
The Faro 2 project
by staff MH in Scicli – Terre des Hommes is a human rights association established by the Swiss journalist Edmond Kaiser in the 60s. In 1989, Terre des Hommes opened an office in Italy and in 1994, it became a charitable organisation with a special focus on child trafficking and child sexual abuse. Read more