VZCZCXRO1437
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNP #0064/01 1421934
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221934Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL NAPLES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6403
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 0164
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 0136
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0001
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0001
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0001
RUEHVT/AMEMBASSY VALLETTA 0004
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 1154

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NAPLES 000064 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL SMIG PGOV PBTS PHSA UNHCR IT LY
MT 
SUBJECT: LAMPEDUSA:  THE TINY ITALIAN ISLAND THAT LOOMS LARGE FOR 
MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 
 
REF: A) TRIPOLI 391 (NOTAL),  B) ROME 437,  C) ROME 438,  D) ROME 439 
 
NAPLES 00000064  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Sensitive - Handle Accordingly 
 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  During a May 13 visit to Italy's 
southernmost territory, the island of Lampedusa, we observed a 
well-run migrant detention center that provides humane 
treatment, food and medical care to those who arrive by boat 
from North Africa.  While the camp has suffered from severe 
overcrowding in recent years, the GOI's controversial new policy 
of turning migrant boats back to Libya before they reach Italian 
waters meant the center had only a couple dozen detainees during 
our visit.  Housing conditions are austere and in bad shape, 
especially following arson by inmates in February that destroyed 
over 40 percent of the available beds.  The outspoken mayor was 
highly critical of the GOI's policies, asserting that 
Lampedusans are outraged with Premier Berlusconi.  The UNHCR is 
extremely critical of the push-back policy, noting that Libya is 
not a party to the UN Refugee Convention; authorities told us 
that women arrive on Lampedusa asserting they were raped and 
mistreated in Libyan detention centers.  Following our visit, 
DefMin La Russa controversially criticized the UNHCR as 
worthless.  It is likely that some bona fide refugees will be 
unable to have asylum claims processed.  Embassy Rome septel 
will report on changes to Italian immigration law that will 
further affect conditions on Lampedusa and other migrant holding 
centers. 
 
 
 
An Island Closer to Africa than Europe 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) The tiny, windswept island of Lampedusa is Italy's 
southernmost territory.  The 9.8-square-mile land mass is only 
70 miles from Tunisia and 127 miles from Sicily; geologically, 
it is part of Africa.  Its 6,720 residents subsist mainly on 
fishing and tourism; in recent years, Lampedusa has averaged 
100,000 tourists per year.  Due to its proximity to North 
Africa, it is also an entry point for seaborne migrants.  In 
2008, around 33,000 arrived by boat, and so far in 2009 there 
have been around 6,000 arrivals.  Virtually all of those voyages 
embarked from Libya.  Until 1992, the U.S Navy maintained a 
small communications base on the island. 
 
 
 
Mayor:  Lampedusans Oppose GOI Policies, Smell a Rat in 
Italy-Libya Accord 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The outspoken mayor of Lampedusa, Bernardino De 
Rubeis, was highly critical of the GOI's immigration policies 
when we met him on the island May 13.  Like many Italian 
politicians, De Rubeis has changed party affiliation several 
times; he is currently a member of the Sicily-based Movement for 
Autonomy, which is in alliance with Premier Silvio Berlusconi's 
People of Liberty Party.  The central government's decision to 
toughen immigration laws -- including making irregular 
immigration a punishable crime, and extending the allowable 
detention time of illegal immigrants from two to six months 
(septel) -- has outraged De Rubeis and his fellow Lampedusans. 
The mayor recounted that since desperate migrants began arriving 
on the island in large numbers seventeen years ago, Lampedusans 
have received them with open arms.  The government's pursuit of 
anti-immigrant policies, spurred by Berlusconi's coalition 
partner, the Northern League, is totally at odds with 
Lampedusa's tradition of dealing with the humanitarian issue. 
Five thousand residents turned out for a recent protest against 
the new policies, De Rubeis told us. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) De Rubeis also condemned Libyan leader Muammar 
al-Gaddafi as unreliable and irresponsible.  He scoffed at an 
August 2008 agreement under which Italy and Libya will soon 
 
NAPLES 00000064  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
begin joint patrols to interdict migrant boats departing Libyan 
territory, speculating that al-Gaddafi and Berlusconi had made a 
secret deal that such operations would only be enforced until 
after the June 6-7 European Parliament elections.  (Comment:  He 
did not elaborate on what benefit al-Gaddafi might obtain from 
such a deal.  End comment.)  De Rubeis also blasted as inhumane 
the GOI's new policy of turning interdicted migrant boats back 
to Libya before they reach Italian territory (ref A). 
 
 
 
Conditions at the Center:  Humane, But Housing in Bad Shape 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (U) The migrant detention center, now designated by the GOI 
as a Center for Identification and Expulsion, is overseen by the 
Interior Ministry.  Most of the migrants arriving on the island 
spend less than a week there, after which they are moved to 
larger centers in Caltanissetta (Sicily) or Crotone (Calabria). 
The majority of arrivals come from Tunisia, Somalia, Eritrea and 
Nigeria, though there are also significant numbers from Mali, 
Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan and India.  Around 75 percent 
of the arrivals request asylum, and around half of those receive 
some form of protection.  Economic migrants, once identified, 
are presented with orders to voluntarily depart Italy.  Few 
return to their countries of origin; most move on to other EU 
states (particularly France, Germany, Netherlands and 
Scandinavian countries), while some stay illegally in Italy. 
Forced repatriation is rare, according to the IOM. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) At times over the past two years, overcrowding at the 
detention center has become so severe that states of emergency 
were declared, and NGOs severely criticized conditions there. 
In January, 2009 the UNHCR expressed concern over the cramped 
conditions, noting that many detainees were sleeping on the 
ground under plastic sheets, and in March Amnesty International 
decried conditions at the center as "inhumane," and charged that 
migrants were not getting a fair hearing on refugee claims.  Our 
visit to the center coincided with the GOI's new policy of 
turning back interdicted migrant boats to Libya, so there were 
only about two dozen male detainees at the center when we 
arrived -- a far cry from only three months ago, when 2,000 
people were jammed into a camp built for 850. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Care of the inmates has been contracted to a private 
organization that provides round-the-clock medical attention and 
food.  All migrants are screened by physicians on arrival; many 
are treated for shock, sunstroke, dehydration and infections 
from the voyage.  Police are on hand to provide security and to 
identify the migrants and their country of origin, a process 
that is often unsuccessful.  The UNHCR, IOM, Red Cross, Doctors 
Without Borders and Save The Children all maintain a presence at 
the center.  Inmates also receive clothes and a weekly phone 
card worth five euros.  There are a number of interpreters who 
speak Arabic, French, English and other languages. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Our impression is that migrants are treated humanely. 
Women and children are held at a separate center that we did not 
see (at the former U.S. Navy base), but the UNHCR and IOM 
representatives did not report any problems there.  The main 
problem with the center is the housing conditions:  aluminum 
shelters hold around twelve bunk beds with thin foam mattresses 
in cramped rooms.  Detainees have ripped out lighting fixtures 
and covered the walls with graffiti.  And in February of this 
year, a group of reportedly Tunisian migrants set fire to part 
of the camp, destroying a shelter that held 330 beds (now only 
473 remain, though the burned pavilion is being rebuilt and 
should be completed in July).  Occasionally inmates escape from 
the center, but return when they realize they are on a small 
island and the camp is their only option. 
 
 
 
UNHCR Blasts Push-Back Policy 
 
NAPLES 00000064  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The IOM and UNHCR representatives told us that there 
are no incentives to keep illegal economic migrants from 
entering Italy.  Many of those who arrive on Lampedusa are never 
positively identified, and the diplomatic and consular officials 
of the countries of origin are generally uncooperative.  As 
noted above, when their detention period is over (two months 
until now), most migrants ignore expulsion orders and disappear 
-- many to other EU countries, some to other parts of Italy.  A 
number of unaccompanied minors (virtually all males between 16 
and 18 years old) also vanish; while some NGOs have expressed 
concern about this, IOM is convinced that these young people 
flee to find work and are probably not victims of traffickers. 
Forced repatriation is rare due to budget constraints and the 
difficulty in determining nationalities. 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The UNHCR is deeply concerned over the new policy of 
turning migrant boats back to Libya, noting that Libya is not a 
party to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and does not 
have a national asylum policy in place.  Both Italian 
authorities at the camp and UNHCR/IOM personnel told us that 
many women arrive on Lampedusa complaining they had been raped 
and/or mistreated at Libyan migrant detention facilities.  A few 
days after our visit, the head of the UNHCR office in Rome, 
Laura Boldrini, condemned the new policy and complained that the 
High Commission's unofficial representatives in Libya do not 
have access to all of Libya's holding camps.  DefMin Ignazio La 
Russa responded publicly during a May 17 visit to Tripoli that 
the UNHCR "is not worth a dried fig," and accused Boldrini of 
being an "inhuman or criminal Communist."  This prompted the UN 
High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres, to blast La Russa for an 
"unacceptable personal attack."  This was followed by 
Berlusconi's assertion to the media May 19 that it is more 
humane to push the migrants back to Libya because Italian 
holding centers are "like concentration camps."  The Vatican has 
also criticized the push-back policy, and publicly expressed its 
concern over the scourge of human trafficking. 
 
 
 
Coast Guard Has Saved Thousands 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶11.  (U) Our final meeting on Lampedusa was with the local Coast 
Guard commander, Achille Selleri, who after two years in his 
post was clearly overwhelmed by the human tide that had arrived 
in his corner of the world.  "I have seen things I never 
imagined," he told us, referring to the desperation of the 
thousands of people whose lives he and his subordinates had 
saved on the high seas.  He observed that 95 percent of the 
Coast Guard's operations in Lampedusa involved humanitarian 
rescue.  He refused to opine on the political decision to turn 
migrant boats back, but he was clearly proud of his team's 
rescue of over 44,000 seaborne migrants in the past two years, 
almost all of whom he believed would otherwise have perished in 
unseaworthy vessels and dinghies.  He said it was impossible to 
know how many people drown trying to make the voyage, but 
guessed that there were a lot who went undetected and never made 
it to shore.  Selleri noted that he had no direct contact with 
his Maltese counterpart; all such contact takes place through 
higher channels.  Comment:  This is an issue because Malta and 
Italy have frequently argued over which country is responsible 
for receiving migrants that are rescued in one or the other's 
agreed-upon search-and-rescue (SAR) area.  Only a week prior to 
our visit, the GOI blocked a Maltese vessel carrying rescued 
migrants from docking at Lampedusa, and a diplomatic spat ensued 
in which each country asserted that the other should receive the 
migrants (who were picked up in Malta's SAR zone but were closer 
to Lampedusa). 
 
 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Comment:  Embassy Rome is preparing a septel on the 
implications of the GOI's new immigration policies.  Since the 
recent push-back of migrant boats to Libya, there have been no 
 
NAPLES 00000064  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
further embarkations toward Lampedusa.  If nothing else, this 
will give the holding center the opportunity to repair and 
rebuild the damage from the February riots.  Nonetheless, no one 
on Lampedusa supports the push-back policy or the proposals to 
change immigration laws.  Most believe that the EU needs to 
develop a common policy for dealing with seaborne migrants and 
to allocate funding to deal with the phenomenon.  In the 
meantime, it is possible that people fleeing war and persecution 
will be unable to find asylum.  And pushing migrants back to 
Libya may turn out to be akin to trying to turn back the ocean 
tides. 
TRUHN