refugees a priority – Corriere.it

The image is this: Sergio Mattarella walks among the three rows of coffins lined up on the parquet of the Palazzetto dello Sport in Crotone. In the 59 in fir wood, with a brown color, the adults rest. The white ones – there are six of them – look after the children. The President of the Republic, whose face has a visibly gloomy expression, stops only when, with very slow steps, he reaches the coffin identified by the forensics specialists with this initials: «KR46M0». To clarify: the letter «M» indicates a male while the «0» tries to define the presumed age. And so this final issue tells us that when the little one, at dawn on Sunday, died in the sinking of the “Summer Love” which occurred 150 meters from the beach, he was not even 12 months old.

It is around noon and Mattarella stands there in front of him for long minutes. See bouquets of flowers dropped by someone along with various toys, including a police car. He looks at the cold identification code one last time and then goes up the ramp that takes him to the large room where he is awaited by the families of the victims.

Almost all are Afghans and have arrived in recent days from Germany, Holland and Austria, where they emigrated and where they would have expected children, brothers, parents, cousins, friends. They ask the head of state for help in recovering the missing “and assistance to the survivors especially for the repatriation or transfer of the bodies”, also reported Mara Eliana Tunno, one of the psychologists of Doctors Without Borders who, together with the staff of the Red Cross and the Municipality of Crotone, is providing assistance to refugees. Finally, other requests, such as that of “moving the survivors of the CARA to a more suitable place, facilitating family reunification”.

Mattarella listens to everyone carefully, then assures “full support” to the families, adding that “it will deal with the condition of Afghans who are asylum seekers”. Theirs is a situation that he defines as “priority”.

Once out of the Palasport, the crowd – many students, mothers and fathers, grandparents and grandchildren – who await the president ask for “justice”, say “thank you”, “do something”. “It could have been avoided,” someone adds.

Yesterday’s visit to Crotone was decided without fanfare, after days of controversy which according to the Quirinale have not changed the decision to bring the condolences of the Republic to the shipwrecked migrants – 68 dead, 82 survivors, at least thirty missing, but the estimate could be even higher – off the Ionian coast . Mattarella would have done it anyway, dal Colle explain, as he had already decided on other occasions alone to be present in places of other tragedies.

After landing at the Sant’Anna di Isola Capo Rizzuto airport, the president visits the San Giovanni di Dio hospital where 15 survivors are hospitalized – none of them are seriously ill – and which above all, in the Pediatrics, hosts 6 minors between 3 and 15 years of age. He brought them some toys, including various soft toys, a pianola, a remote-controlled robot.

When two little brothers aged 9 and 12 “they met the president’s gaze – it is the story of the teacher Luciana La Vecchia who makes them play and draw in the morning – they smiled”. And the twelve-year-old who saw his entire family swept away in the shipwreck also smiled. The child has lost his mother, four brothers and several cousins ​​while nothing more is known about his father, swallowed up by the force 5 waves. However, sometimes he does not seem to believe he has lived through that nightmare and psychologists happen to repeat these words: «Dad He’ll be coming to fetch me from Sweden soon…”

Mattarella, before leaving Calabriathanked the governor of the Region Roberto Occhiuto, the mayors of Crotone and Cutro Vincenzo Voce and Antonio Ceraso for the generosity shown by the local communities who immediately rescued and welcomed the refugees.

Around 13 at the funeral home – visited by thousands of moved people in recent days – also the pd secretary Elly Schlein accompanied by the regional secretary Nicola Irto and other Calabrian parliamentarians came by to pay homage. Without talking to reporters, the leader dembefore returning to Rome, he met a desperate Afghan survivor who lost her children in the shipwreck.

Finally, yesterday evening the prefecture communicated that the identified victims are 54. Among these 48 are Afghans, three Pakistanis, a Syrian, a Palestinian and a Tunisian.