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Welcome to Italy: Migrant Tales of Survival

As long as there is war, poverty and insecurity in Africa and the Middle East, migrants and refugees will try and seek a better life in Europe. For many years now, Italy has been one of the principal destinations for many and that has included the dangerous sea crossing over the Mediterranean. Egyptian refugee Mostafa Hassan was lucky to arrive in Rome at all in 2015, as one of only 27 survivors of the biggest Mediterranean disasters since World War II. He recalls one frightful day on an overloaded boat, its sinking and subsequent drowning - a regular occurrence in the Mediterranean in recent years. "At night, we all went to sleep. When I woke up in the morning the boat was unstable. Everyone was scared. Then it started to lean to one side. There were a lot of us and it was overloaded," he says. "People started to fall into the water. I saw bodies floating on the water before I jumped in ... I pushed the bodies away so I could swim. The boat sank. I swam until help arrived. They rescued survivors but the dead remained in the water. I don't know what happened to them." According to UN figures, immigration to Europe is falling year-on-year. But by the first week of April 2019, there had still been 12,350 arrivals into Europe by sea, with 289 fatalities. One in six refugees arriving in Italy is now aged under 18. Under-aged migrants - or minors - like Mostafa who was 17 at the time, are taken to reception centres where they're looked after by people like Eraldo Andi. Andi runs a primary reception centre for minors and provides support, education and shelter. "I don't just feel responsible for them at the centre. I usually help them after they leave. So I study teenage immigration. I contact experts in minors' issues hoping to know more about the dangers and problems they face and the best solutions," says Andi, who's become a guardian angel for refugees. Unfortunately, state support ends when these young people turn 18 and are left to fend for

English
  • Originally Aired April 17, 2019
  • Runtime 50 minutes
  • Network Al Jazeera
  • Created September 9, 2019 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified September 9, 2019 by
    Administrator admin