After spending 27 years as the first doctor to examine migrants reaching Europe’s shores, Pietro Bartolo is now about to take over as a member of the European Parliament in Brussels. InfoMigrants caught up with Bartolo on Lampedusa and asked him about the Italian government's policies vis-a-vis NGO migrant rescue ships and his hopes as an MEP.
Pietro Bartolo, known as the "doctor of migrants" for his work on the island of Lampedusa, has been elected to the European Parliament. He has vowed to go "to work, without fear."
Pietro Bartolo, who has served as a doctor for migrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa, is running for the European Parliament. The Italian hopes that his experience helping migrants will lead to success in politics.
Italy's far-right interior minister has condemned the seizure of the ship, saying migrants on board should not have set foot in Italy. However, the condition of the refugees had swayed the authorities' opinion.
The exhibition "Rothko in Lampedusa" will put the spotlight on refugee artists. It opens on May 11 in Venice. The goal: To show how refugees and migrants enrich their host countries.
Lampedusa Mayor Salvatore ‘Totò’ Martello met with European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos in Brussels and told the commissioner that migrant landings on the Sicilian island "haven't ever stopped.”
Within only a few hours of each other, two boats carrying migrants have landed on Lampedusa. The first was carrying 16 and the second 23 people. ''As you can see, the port is open,'' said Lampedusa mayor Salvatore ‘Totò’ Martello.
One of the migrants saved by the Mare Jonio rescue ship had previously crossed the Strait of Sicily and was sent back to Libya five times. The man's body has marks of torture on it, allegedly suffered in Libyan detention centers. Many of those onboard the ship tell similar stories of violence and torture.
A rescue boat carrying nearly 50 migrants has docked at the Italian island of Lampedusa. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had denied the ship access to Italian ports, but relented in order to bring aid workers to trial.
The Italian organization “Mediterranea Saving Humans” is only a few months old, having been formed in October 2018. Now its ship, the Mare Jonio, is the latest migrant rescue vessel to enter into a stand-off with the Italian government after it saved 49 people from the Mediterranean on March 18.
The horrifying stories that migrants have shared with workers of the Federation of Evangelical Churches of Italy (FCEI) on the island of Lampedusa prove that the situation in Libya remains dangerous. Violence, rape and abductions continue to make Libya a dangerous transit country for migrants and refugees.
A Tunesian fisherman, once hailed as the rescuer of migrants, has been arrested and faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence for aiding and abetting human trafficking. Family and friends say he and his crew were "only doing their duty."