Sea of Troubles

The Italian government's reluctance to grant safe harbour to refugees 

- ALESSIA MANZI

"I was just a child when I left Mali," Mamadou said. "I travelled a long way arriving in Libya, but after the fall of Gaddafi, the socio-political situation in the country..." His voice trailed off, as he stirred the remaining sugar at the bottom of his cup. "I ended up in prison. There, my body went through all the torture of the world." He continued, "One day, the Libyans dumped us on the beach. I had never seen the sea." From the coast, Mamadou saw the Mediterranean Sea for the first time. "Libyans ordered us to inflate the boat to enter the sea. Those who refused were killed. So, I trusted fate and I crossed the sea." He boarded the boat with about a hundred people but, seven miles off the Libyan coast, the engine broke down. They remained at sea for seven days and seven nights. He arrived in Italy in 2015. "There were about a hundred people on the boat but only forty people arrived in Italy. I don't know how I survived. Now I would like to help others and say Libya is hell."

For most refugees, the journey to Europe by sea is perilous. On 3 October 2013, 368 people died off the coast of Lampedusa, Sicily, in southern Italy by far the most devastating migrant shipwreck. Since then, more than twenty-nine thousand migrants have died trying to reach Europe. On 2 November 2022, Italy tacitly renewed a memorandum with Libya, to curb the arrivals of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.