Migrants in Sicily: A Center to Study Them Where They Disembark

MEDITERRANEAN SICILY EUROPE ASSOCIATION –

Sicily thinks big. And it even goes so far as to present itself as the true natural hub of a Europe that, through the Mediterranean gateway of welcome and solidarity (remember the generosity of Lampedusa?), manages to find new ways of coexisting to integrate foreigners and not repel, with walls and barriers, the biblical influx of migrants . The Mediterranean, Sicily, Europe Association was born with this ambition, which may seem almost unrealistic at first glance. In reality, there is very little that is unrealistic about the project, considering the first initiative of Mediterranean, Sicily, Europe , announced in Catania during the association's official presentation: a study center on the phenomenon of migration, anchored in the Sicily of the rapid arrivals and in the region's university system, with headquarters in Noto at the Eastern Mediterranean University Center.

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THE BOOK BY MAURIZIO CASERTA AND ALDO PREMOLI –

The association's scientific manifesto, in some ways its scientific platform, is the dense book (not coincidentally titled Mediterranean, Sicily, Europe: a model for European unity ), published by Malcor D'edizione and co-authored by Maurizio Caserta, full professor of Political Economy at the University of Catania, and the journalist and writer Aldo Premoli. The text contains a well-documented snapshot of the island's failed desertification , and among the many statistics, I'll cite just two, chilling ones: enrollment in Sicilian universities has plummeted by 25 percent in recent years (in the meantime, professorships and courses have multiplied) , and every twelve months approximately 7 graduates leave Sicily to enroll in faculties in central or northern Italy . On an island that is being emptied of skills, energy, generational change, and therefore of a future, all that remains is the shadow of a perverse relationship between the political and economic ruling classes, an exchange flawed from the outset, protection in exchange for rents, which has undermined any form of growth.

SICILY ACCORDING TO CASERTA AND PREMOLI –

In Caserta and Premoli's account, Sicily has undergone a sort of transgender journey , a violated identity, with a development model that has transformed it into a place rich in resources, almost always wasted or misused for collective gain, but poor in income. Indeed, increasingly poorer. Where to start to try to reverse the trend? This is where Caserta and Premoli's risky, provocative approach comes from, bringing to the table two key words from Sicily's ancient history and, at the same time, its new identity: hospitality and integration . A mix of strategies that can restore to Sicilians, welcoming at heart, their genetic environmental, cultural, and touristic richness, transforming it into a community resource, and at the same time offering a model for successful integration within the region, not just for Italy, but for Europe. Something similar, in fact, is already evident in small towns and villages on the island (unlike the scandalous situation of large reception centers, like Pozzallo), where artistic and environmental assets have been well-recognized, new economic areas have been created, and where, at the same time, immigration has been well-absorbed, generating value for the community rather than panic, violence, or anger. These are the usual scattered spots in Southern Italy, and even more so in Sicily. Spots that, if well integrated, reproduced, and expanded, could become the fabric of an island system, as Caserta and Premoli dream.

THE FUTURE OF SICILY –

We must not deny, however, that a less bleak future for Sicily than its recent past and present hinges on the use of its special autonomy, which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary as a regional state. Erasing Sicily as a special region, as some are calling for purely intellectually, after decades of waste and patronage, is not only impossible, it would be counterproductive. Sicilians, including the younger generations who we hope will not continue to abandon the island, must cultivate a sense of responsibility. To do so, regarding special-statute regions, they could take a closer look at how money is spent in Trentino-Alto Adige, where patronage and waste are not lacking, but where the results of its autonomy are truly the envy of all Italian regional administrations. And certainly, through good management of allocated resources, Sicily will be able to turn the tables on development and focus on the duality of acceptance and integration, as Caserta and Premoli envision. Where it is precisely these capabilities that have made empires great, starting with the Roman one, which left magnificent traces on perhaps the most beautiful island in the world.

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