Lampedusa one week later: suffering and hope

(Vatican Radio) One week on from the Lampedusa shipwreck, the confirmed death toll is at 302, with rescue operations due to end on Friday at the latest.

In the aftermath of this tragedy, political and humanitarian organisations are pushing to ensure that it is followed up by concrete measures to prevent the death of African migrants in the Mediterranean, and improve the conditions of their reception in Europe.

Lydia O’Kane has more on this story:

During their visit to Lampedusa yesterday, the Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso decided to break with the day’s official timetable to visit the island’s Centre for First Aid and Welcome, in order to witness firsthand the difficult living conditions of migrants who survived last week’s shipwreck. Over 1000 asylum seekers are currently living in the centre, which has a maximum capacity for about 200 people, and many are without shelter during the rainy nights.

We spoke to Italian journalist Nino Cirillo from Il Messaggero, who has been in Lampedusa since last week, to find out more about the impact of this visit. The local population, he said, at various points protested the arrival of Mr Barroso and Mr Letta, shouting “murderers” and “shame”. Fortunately everything calmed down after a while, particularly when they decided to visit the Centre, to see it with their own eyes.

It was an important day, he continued, because Europe proved for the first time that it seriously intends to tackle this problem – Italy will receive 30 million euros of EU funding towards improving its reception facilities. He added that the suffering continues for the people of Lampedusa, as 302 coffins continue to lie in a large hangar at the airport. Mr Letta announced yesterday that Italy will hold a state funeral for the deceased migrants – only then will the island be able to move on from the tragedy, hopefully supported by the whole of Europe.