Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Chapter 5 • Giuseppe De Sario, Laura Corradi, Patricia Ruiz, Enrica Capussotti
Part III
“Being In Italy”: Laws and Daily Life
Patricia Ruiz*
Nobody took the decision to come to Italy; they forced us. Nobody took
the decision, lady, nobody leaves its home and its property unless somebody
comes and tells you “either you leave or I’ll kill you”. [Agim]
Who chose to leave? There was no choice, you needed to escape and
that’s It. [Violça]
The assertion that they have been forced to leave Kosovo was common
amongst the interviewees. The Kosovar Albanians blame the Serbs for
their coerced migration, while the Kosovar Romany mostly blame
Albanians. In their situation, the question of who had made the decision to
leave seems to lose its meaning. The constraint imposed by others with
threats or acts came before any individual decision or choice. Because of
this, the words that recur throughout the interviews are those that describe
imposition and the survivors’ powerlessness to make decisions affecting
their future lives. The speed with which the disastrous events took place is
often incomprehensible to those who did not take part in the conflict.
Many interviewees left their houses under the pressure of violence, sharing
with their neighbours or relatives an instinct: the drive to save their
own lives.
You couldn’t choose where to go, the only countries were Italy or
Montenegro or Serbia. [Violça]
As Italy is the Western European country closest to the conflict, it became
one of the first destinations of those who had escaped the war. Most of the
interviewees staying in the Regina Pacis reception centre remembered this
trip to Italy as the most difficult time of their lives, as almost all of them
had clandestinely crossed the Adriatic Sea. Some of them, like Elidon G.
have braved this border nine times. Others, in crossing, found themselves
cursing their parents for having given them life, as did Lytfi. They were
* Degree in Political Science and Communication at the University of Bologna, she has
worked as translator and visiting researcher at the University of Calabria.
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