An Observatory on immigration and asylum, named after the late writer and intellectual Alessandro Leogrande, was inaugurated on June 23, in the southern Italian region of Puglia.
The Observatory on immigration and asylum rights dedicated to Alessandro Leogrande, the writer and intellectual from Taranto who died in 2017 aged 40, was inaugurated on June 23 at the Puglia Governor's office.
In order for a migration "flow not to become a flood, it is necessary to get to know it and study it in depth", said Puglia Governor Michele Emiliano at the inauguration. The tasks of the regional observatory will be to analyze migration patterns and frewquency, as well as attempting to address the social and employment needs of migrants who arrive to live and work in Puglia.
"The regional observatory on immigration is useful to get to know the great opportunities stemming from the desire many people have of living and working in our region", explained Emiliano.
"The arrival of new migrant workers is often used to scare people who are in our area and have no job. But we know that the economy doesn't work in this way. In fact, a higher number of people in employment can greatly contribute to the wealth of our companies, making it more likely to reduce the unemployment rate, which is at one of its lowest points in Puglia's history at the moment," he added.
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An attempt to look at migration through the eyes of the marginalized
"After 16 years, we have set up the Observatory, which was established with a regional law in 2009 -- a goal I am proud of," said the Puglia Councillor for Migration Policies Viviana Matrangola. "Naming the Observatory after Alessandro Leogrande adds further responsibility to our job, urging us to look at the phenomenon of migration through the eyes of the most marginalized."
Withdrawing a plaque in memory of Alessandro Leogrande, his mother Maria Giannico remembered how "Alessandro spent his short life looking after his relationship with migrants, writing books and articles about them. He always believed that the Mediterranean, our sea, was a bridge to welcome others and not a wired fence, like many would like."
Leogrande was for ten years the vice-director of the monthly magazine Lo Straniero (The Foreigner) and had written many books and articles about the exploitation of migrants, particularly in the south of Italy during his career.