As
US President Donald Trump's anti-Muslim decree fuels a tumultuous
global debate, Italy is quietly experimenting with an integration
project to better the lives of both asylum seekers and locals.
"It's the first time I've seen the snow; I love it and I love this project," Nawaz Tashawar, a 35-year-old from Pakistan, told AFP with a shy grin last week.
From Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal, they have been posted to this industrial heartland of 35,000 inhabitants near Venice, earning their keep by working without pay in parks, kitchens and schools.
The government has been watching, and is expected to unveil plans on Wednesday to take the project nationwide, making it compulsory for those waiting for the verdict on their asylum requests to do community work.
"We'd
be at home doing nothing, we have no work, we'd simply eat, sleep,"
said Paul Adjei from the Ivory Coast. "So we decided together to
help the town, so it can move forwards." The question of
what to do with the thousands of people arriving in Italy each year
has proved divisive.
There are over 175,000 asylum seekers languishing in reception centres as they wait for their applications to be processed, which can take up to two years.
"Many cannot bear not doing anything," Carlotta Sami, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told AFP.
There are over 175,000 asylum seekers languishing in reception centres as they wait for their applications to be processed, which can take up to two years.
"Many cannot bear not doing anything," Carlotta Sami, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told AFP.
Belluno,
which has a left-wing mayor but sits in the middle of anti-immigrant
Northern League territory, is not complaining. The 100 or so migrants
here have painted the town's railings and school gates and mowed
lawns in parks under the supervision of local associations.
The project, launched in 2014, is based on the idea that autonomy can facilitate lasting integration. Instead of forcing asylum seekers to live in tent camps or large centres, they are given small apartments to share, and do their own shopping and cooking.
Mayor Jacopo Massaro laughs off the suggestion that he is the antithesis of Trump and other advocates of walls to keep migrants out.
"I don't feel like an anti-Trump, no! To put it simply, we thought that what with the difficulties Italy and Europe are experiencing, we all need to invest a little to resolve a problem that is bigger than us", he said.
The project, launched in 2014, is based on the idea that autonomy can facilitate lasting integration. Instead of forcing asylum seekers to live in tent camps or large centres, they are given small apartments to share, and do their own shopping and cooking.
Mayor Jacopo Massaro laughs off the suggestion that he is the antithesis of Trump and other advocates of walls to keep migrants out.
"I don't feel like an anti-Trump, no! To put it simply, we thought that what with the difficulties Italy and Europe are experiencing, we all need to invest a little to resolve a problem that is bigger than us", he said.
A
helping hand
The flow of people from the coasts of northern Africa to Italy - 170,000 in 2014, 150,000 in 2015 and 181,000 last year - has resulted in the biggest migrant crisis since World War Two.
But as Italy groans under the pressure, the idea of making asylum seekers work for free has angered those who say the country should be tackling its unemployment problem.
The flow of people from the coasts of northern Africa to Italy - 170,000 in 2014, 150,000 in 2015 and 181,000 last year - has resulted in the biggest migrant crisis since World War Two.
But as Italy groans under the pressure, the idea of making asylum seekers work for free has angered those who say the country should be tackling its unemployment problem.
The Local
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