Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Chapter 5 • Giuseppe De Sario, Laura Corradi, Patricia Ruiz, Enrica Capussotti
The centre lies on the edge of south-eastern Italy, in the region of Salento,
or, more precisely, in the territory known as the Land of Otranto. The territory
surrounds the maritime citadel of Otranto, which also bears the same
name as the 60km channel of the Adriatic Sea that separates Italy from
Albania.
The Salento is a border area, and according to data collected by the Istituto
Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) the ISTAT, offers the largest Italian exposure
to clandestine immigrant disembarkation. In 1998, 36,000 immigrants
crossed the channel on motorboats, paying an average of one thousand
marks each to be smuggled into Italy. According to official data,
26,000 people entered Italy by these means during the first semester of
1999. Most of these immigrants were Kosovar Albanians and Romany, and
were escaping the war that had just begun in their country.
Regina Pacis was conceived as a centre that would temporarily receive a
large number of these immigrants. The centre is administered by a
Catholic priest, Don Cesare Lodoserto, and typically hosts people from
such diverse countries as Peru, China, Pakistan, Kurdistan, Romania,
Senegal, Algeria and Kosovo. Its building was initially used as summer
camp for boys and girls. Arriving at the centre from the coastal highway,
after having passed summer chalets, white beaches and cliffs, it is surprising
to see the facility cast its shadow over the luminous sea, enclosed on
all sides by a two and a half-meter railing that is constantly guarded by a
garrison of the national police corps. The Centre’s residents spend most of
their days in a courtyard located inside the building or looking out of the
two large balconies on the first floor. Few of them have the right to exit
and enter whenever they wish. Only those who have obtained a resident
permit have any real mobility. (An informal agreement between the police
and Don Cesare allows a select few – those who have already lived at the
centre for a certain period of time – to circulate in the area near Regina
Pacis, even without a permit).
With Don Cesare’s permission, I was able to go inside the centre, and
found myself in a corridor crowded with residents. All of them were waiting
to use the only public telephone available to them. Before us, a flight
of stairs led to the first floor, where the two big dormitories, one for men,
and the other for women, were located. On the second floor, a few apartments
hosted the families who had been there longer than the rest. Inside
the building, the dining room seemed to be the only area where people
could socialize. The staff recruited volunteers from amongst the residents
to prepare and serve the food. In the external part of the complex, younger
residents played volleyball under the watchful eyes of the police.
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