Defenestrated from the Second Floor! A Tunisian Illegal Immigrant Dies in Agrigento

The case went unnoticed. A 55-year-old Tunisian woman died defenestrated from the second floor a few days ago in Agrigento in Sicily, southern Italy. In fact, according to snippets of information published by the Sicilian press, the woman committed suicide at night. She was staying in the hygiene services of the migrant center called “La grande famille” in Casteltermini. Rescued by an ambulance that transported her to the emergency services of the San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Agrigento, she arrived there already dead. It is reported that the riflemen of Casteltermini and Cammarata, as well as the scientific police investigated the ground during the night. Verdict: the woman was depressed.

Migration on the Rise

In fact, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (TFESR) recently published alarming figures. In the middle of winter, illegal migration from Tunisia to Italy intensified. Thus, from January 1 to February 23, 2021, at least 558 migrants reached the Italian coast, compared to 94 during the same period the previous year and 31 in 2019.

According to Mr. Romdhane Ben Amor, information officer at TFESR, this unprecedented upsurge is due to degraded economic and social conditions. He adds to this the massive eruption of protest movements during the same period (more than 1,400).

Checks and Arrests

The numbers are staggering. In fact, sixty-five clandestine trips were blocked from January 1 to February 23, 2021 against 47 for the same period in 2020 and 12 in 2019. As for the illegal travelers arrested, their number rose to 1,051 from January 1 to February 23. In fact, 20% of them are female and 4.32% are minors. 58% of them are Tunisians. In 2020 and 2019, and during the same period, the arrests included 887 and 223 stowaways, respectively.

Their clandestine journeys take place mainly from the coastal areas of Sfax, Mahdia, Tunis and Nabeul. They’re hiring entire families now.

Strong Solutions and Degrading Treatments

Like all misfortunes, the Covid 19 pandemic does not happen alone. The successive confinements result in the increase in unemployment and the impoverishment of large sections of the working class and the middle class. Investments are also drying up. The result is an amplification of protest social movements and forced or voluntary ban breaks.

Suddenly, the flow of clandestine migration is amplifying. Europe, erected as a fortress, is increasingly padlocked. In fact, it becomes more and more cautious and withdrawn. Its only answer is to contain migratory flows. Somehow. For this, it appeals to the States of the South of the Mediterranean, called upon to play the gendarmes and the guards-chiourme at the outposts of the fortress Europe.

Worse, the conditions of detention of illegal migrants are worsening in Europe and more particularly in Italy. In 2016, the European Union created the European border and coast guard agency called Frontex. Its mission is to control and manage the external borders of the Schengen area. In fact, it is akin to an army in good standing, most often hasty methods. The Israeli government has equipped it few times with particularly sophisticated and lethal weapons.

A few months ago, Italian coastguard boats fired more than five hundred bullets at a small Tunisian fishing boat that had ventured into the shores of Italian territorial seas. Even the Daesh [ISIS] commandos had never suffered such harassment.

In fact, politicians are making bombastic speeches. But the misfortunes of the little people are the silent act of politics.