The migrants rescued at sea by Italian coast guard ship 'Diciotti' told of having been subjected to violence, torture, and abuse in Libya. Some said they had been sold more than once.
The migrants who arrived in Italy on the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti disembarked in a state of exhaustion, and social workers who interviewed them heard stories of atrocious events and years of violence.
Now, those 100 migrants - 92 men and eight women, all Eritreans - are at the "Mondo Migliore" (Better World) reception centre in Rocca di Papa, a centre managed by the Catholic Church in the town just outside Rome.
When they arrived, the other guests at the centre applauded them. The migrants are now waiting to be distributed among the various Italian dioceses that have provided availability to host them, including Milan, Florence, and Naples. The migrants will depart in the coming days.
Tragic memories of Libya
The rescued migrants told aid workers they were amazed, grateful, and hopeful. Among them are many Coptic Christians who told workers they were astonished that Pope Francis himself intervened to help when the ship was delayed. In describing the journey they underwent in recent years before reaching Italy, some of the migrants said they had been kept underground in a warehouse in Libya, some sold two or three times.
They said 16 children were born during the long months they were held in a state of detention. The women said they gave birth only to see their children die after five or six months. Among the new migrant arrivals, there are six married couples; in all, eight women who were victims of sexual abuse. Aid workers said the refugees "have no idea what is happening around them right now, much less why".
Protests in front of the centre
Anti-fascist, pro-migrant groups as well as extreme right-wing militants from Casapound have staged sit-in demonstrations in front of the Mondo Migliore migrant reception centre. Casapound demonstrators called for the repatriation of the migrants, protesting against "reception at the Italians' expense". However, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) said the reception operation for the migrants from the Diciotti "will be covered entirely from funds made available by CEI, and is in continuity with a consolidated widespread reception programme with which the Italian Church has incorporated the Pope's appeal, receiving in the past three years more than 26,000 migrants, often in families and parishes, as also shown by the project 'Protected: Refugees in My Home' and the humanitarian corridors".
Carlotta Sami, a spokesperson for UN refugee agency UNHCR, visited the centre in Rocca di Papa. "It's important to highlight the contribution made by the Pope for a solution to the Diciotti delay," she said. "This reception should make Italy proud, as well as the centre's workers, for the work they do every day".