Refugees Deeply | 19.02.2018
Neglect breeds crime and violence at Cara di Mineo in Sicily, where residents trade cigarettes in order to get by as they wait for asylum decisions. A new trial is expected to reveal the profiteers of Italy’s failing reception system.
Leanne Tory-Murphy
CARA DI MINEO, Italy – The first glimpse of Italy’s largest refugee camp brings to mind an American suburb with its neat rows of houses in warm hues, fronted by square lawns. The spell is broken at the entrance, where barbed-wire fences are manned by heavily armed soldiers in camouflage gear.
Cara di Mineo, also known as Solidarity Village, houses roughly 3,000 asylum seekers far away from the towns and cities of eastern Sicily and owes its suburban look to the U.S. soldiers at the nearby Sigonella base, who once barracked here.