Migrants in Italy living in miserable conditions

Photo credit: Alessandro Penso/Maps. Migrants sleep in an abandoned warehouse in Pordenone, north-east Italy.

TMP – 14/02/2018

Around 10,000 migrants and refugees are living in inhumane conditions in Italy because of inadequate reception policies, according to a new report compiled by NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The report, ‘Out of Sight’, is based on the monitoring of several informal settlements, such as slums, squats and occupied buildings, which many migrants and refugees in Italy call home.
The report shows that refugees and migrants usually live in small groups after frequent evictions from the informal settlements in which they used to stay. With little support from the government to find appropriate housing, many are forced to seek shelter in unsuitable and almost uninhabitable places, such as abandoned buildings.

“Two years after it was first published, the ‘Out of Sight’ report is still a sad survey of vulnerability and marginalisation. It describes a situation in which thousands of people who are entitled to refuge and protection do not even have a decent shelter to sleep in, enough food, or access to a doctor,” said MSF advocacy officer Giuseppe De Mola.
“Refugees and migrants are living on the margins of society because of an inadequate reception system and harmful border policies. What’s more, policies designed to foster social inclusion of migrants and refugees at the national, regional and local level are poorly implemented,” De Mola said.

Language and administrative barriers only exacerbate the difficulties refugees and migrants face in accessing social services and healthcare, as well as basics like clean water, food and electricity.
Another recent MSF study ‘Harmful Borders’ illustrates the difficulties facing migrants attempting to cross from Italy to France, where they are often blocked at the borders and are forced to live in informal settlements with limited access to essentials and healthcare.