ITALY: Being a Refugee Becomes a Dream
By Aldo Ciummo*
ROME, Jul 16 (IPS) – Ernestine Kayindo fled Goma town in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997 amidst fighting between the regular army and rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (NCDP), a Tutsi armed group that is still active.
“All of us Congolese felt in danger of being killed,” says Kayindo, who now works in Rome with the Società Civile Congolese.
More than four million died in the 1997-2003 civil war that destroyed most of Congo. Many fled the violence, famine and disease.
Some sought refuge in Italy. But today they face uncertainty again, as parliament considers a law to punish undocumented migrants with six months to four years imprisonment. Many of those who fled violent conflict, and without documents under the circumstances, may now be refused asylum, and instead face jail.
The new law would be lethal for migrants like the Congolese in Italy. These number less than 4,000 within a migrant population of about 3.7 million. But their plight is a vivid illustration of the dangers from the proposed law.
The Commission for Constitutional Affairs and the Commission of Justice of the Italian Senate will finish examining the proposed immigration law Jul. 18. The Senate will vote on the penalty for undocumented migrants Jul. 24.
Last year only 57 Congolese submitted requests for asylum, and just 14 were successful. In 2006, 102 Congolese citizens applied for asylum; only 33 were accepted.
