Lampedusa Photos & Videos

Photos source

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie on her work with refugees

20 June 2011 Last updated at 10:10 ET

The Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has been visiting migrants fleeing the violence in Libya and Tunisia.

She has travelled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa to thank its residents for taking in the estimated 20,000 refugees.

The star is also a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The BBC's Zeinab Badawi joined Angelina Jolie on the island and asked her to describe the children she had met there.

Video

Lampedusa reports

Jun. 19, 2011 1:24 PM ET

Jolie thanks Italy for opening doors to refugees

FRANCESCO MANETTI, Associated Press

LAMPEDUSA, Italy (AP) — Angelina Jolie traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday and thanked its residents for welcoming in the estimated 20,000 migrants who arrived after fleeing unrest in Tunisia and Libya.
Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured a migrant holding center, chatted with some refugees and then participated in a ceremony at Lampedusa's memorial for migrants lost at sea as part of commemorations for World Refugee Day on Monday.
"You cannot imagine what you represented to all those people this year who were looking desperately for help," Jolie was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
U.N. refugee chief Antonio Guterres also was on hand to urge Europe to continue keeping its doors open to refugees. Italy's center-right government has begrudgingly accepted the migrants, but has also struck deals with Tunisia and the Libyan opposition to return those who don't qualify for asylum.
Guterres said the debate in Europe about immigration "doesn't correspond to the reality," given that the number of African migrants who have arrived in Europe is a fraction of the numbers who have gone elsewhere.
"Obviously, for a small island like Lampedusa, to have such a large number of people coming is a huge pressure," he told reporters. "But for Europe as a whole it is a drop in the ocean, and so I believe that with an adequate form of solidarity this challenge can be overcome."
Lampedusa, with a permanent population of 6,000, was overwhelmed this spring by waves of refugees fleeing the social uprising in Tunisia, with an estimated 20,000 arriving on the island, which is closer to Africa than mainland Italy. Boats continue to arrive from Libya, but eventually the refugees are transferred to holding centers elsewhere in Italy or sent back home unless they qualify for asylum.
Pope Benedict XVI urged countries to welcome refugees for as long as they need sanctuary in a message delivered Sunday while visiting the tiny republic of San Marino, itself founded in the early 4th century by a Christian refugee from Croatia.
"I invite civil authorities and every one of good will to guarantee a welcome and dignified living conditions for refugees until they can return to their countries freely and safely," Benedict said.
Yet as he spoke, members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government heated up the anti-immigrant rhetoric during an annual rally of the xenophobic Northern League party near the northern city of Bergamo.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni drew cheers from the crowd when he boasted of the hardline policies he has pushed through to return migrants back to their home countries.
Associated Press
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

*****

Angelina Jolie with refugees in Lampedusa CIE

Lampedusa, June 19 (TMNews) - After the visiting refugees fleeing the repression of Syrian Pres. Assad in Altinözü in the Turkish province of Hatay two days ago, Angelina Jolie arrived in Lampedusa this afternoon where she met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. The Hollywood star then visited the Centre for Identification and Expulsion (CIE) of the island, surrounded by a massive deployment of security forces who prevented journalists and curious to approach her. At CIE Jolie's fingerprints were taken, a procedure reserved for immigrants who landed on the island. She subsequently moved to the Loran where other refugees are housed.

"It 'an honor for me to be on this beautiful island. What you did meant so much to these people who have great need of help," Jolie said during the commemoration of the victims of the sea in front of the "Gate of 'Europe'. Looking at this beautiful sea it really hurts to think about how many people have risked their lives and those of their children, and those who unfortunately have lost it. I think you look at what must be the terrible situation at their origin to decide to risk it and get on a boat with the risk of dying. I come from a country that has benefited greatly from immigration. I am grateful to the Italians and people from Lampedusa to opening their borders. This has made a big difference. "

*****

L'Unita and Italiavela Lampedusa is the welcome capital of world and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees arrived on the island in celebration of World Refugee Day. But more importantly and greeted with enthusiasm by locals and tourists, its ambassador, the American actress Angelina Jolie. Her visit was kept secret til the last minute to avoid the crowds of reporters and photographers but they still followed her as she went around the island surrounded by heavy security.

"This is the first time I've come and I hope to return many times," said Jolie, speaking at a ceremony at the port of Europe. It is an honor to be here."

Pressed by journalists on the theme of immigration in Europe, the UN ambassador, dressed in a sober black, replied: "I'm an American, a land that has benefited from immigration, so I can not say what Europe should to do. But I can say I am grateful to the Italians and to Lampedusa for keeping the borders open. The world needs more tolerance," she concluded, before her return flight back to Malta.

Lampedusa arrival

Angelina Jolie arrives in Lampedusa to meet boat people from North Africa after visit to Malta

LAMPEDUSA ISLAND, Italy, June 19 (UNHCR) – Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Sunday afternoon joined UNHCR chief António Guterres on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where they will meet boat people who have fled unrest in North Africa.

More than 40,000 people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, have crossed the Mediterranean on overcrowded boats and descended on the small island since the beginning of the year. Many were economic migrants from Tunisia, but some are people in need of international protection, including refugees from sub-Saharan Africa and Libya.

Italy has moved most of them to the mainland, but some have been returned to Tunisia. Jolie and Guterres will visit detention facilities on Lampedusa and see the crowded conditions faced by new arrivals.

The UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador flew to Lampedusa from Malta, which has also been a destination for people fleeing North Africa by boat. She visited Lyster Barracks, a former Royal Air Force facility and now a detention centre for asylum-seekers, many of whom who have fled the violence in Libya. They include Somalis, Ethiopians and others from sub-Saharan Africa.

"Malta has saved many lives, but it is the daily conditions on the ground that are of most concern," Jolie said in Malta on Sunday morning. "We've spent time today speaking with the government and will spend more time talking about how, together, we can make the conditions more humane, especially for the children.

"We've spoken about our shared concerns about making sure asylum claims are processed as quickly as possible so no-one is sitting in a prison-like situation and waiting on a decision about their status, " she added.

Many of the people Jolie met in the barracks told her that they had been working in Libya to make money to remit to their families back home. One man referred to Libya as the heart of Africa, where they were able to work. "Now it is on fire and Africa is crying," he said.

The people said they had never attempted to come to Europe before, they just wanted a place where they were safe and could work. But when the war escalated in Libya, they ran out of options. "They are not asking to go to any particular country, they just want to find safety to work, and to have freedom," Jolie stressed.

Women thrust their hands through bars and shook hands with the actress. "I just want freedom," they all said.

Jolie praised Malta's coastguards, saying they had "saved thousands of lives over the years and should be commended for that. They should now be given support from the international community to handle this continuing situation,"

The Goodwill Ambassador also visited an open centre near Malta's main airport where vulnerable asylum-seekers are living in tents inside an old aircraft hangar while their asylum claims are assessed, The people she met there said living conditions were difficult and they were concerned about the pools of fuel on the ground and rats chewing their tents.

By Ariane Rummery on Lampedusa Island, Italy

******

RAI news: A little after 13 Angelina Jolie by private plane in Lampedusa (Agrigento).

"She is not just a celebrity," said Gutterres said of the actress, "She is a competent and very committed person I often ask to go on a mission for me. Of course the fact that she is also a celebrity helps our cause, but she would go even without any publicity. She is a great member of our team. "

*****

Lampedusa, June 19- (Adnkronos) - Angelina Jolie arrived a few moments ago at the reception center in Lampedusa. Accompanied by a procession of cars, including police, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza, and accompanied by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, she is visiting the facility that currently houses the district Imbriacola 190 migrants, including 60 Tunisian and 130 refugees. Jolie will meet only refugees not the Tunisians.

*****

Corriere della Sera: A surprise visit from Angelina Jolie to Lampedusa on the occasion of International Day for Refugees. Can not get close to the Hollywood star: the cameras and reporters were kept away from the hostel. A curious crowd had massed at the airport of Lampedusa, but none were able to see Jolie or take pictures because the actress was received alongside and from there using a secondary exit .

Lampedusa

18 June 2011 Last updated at 21:05 ET

UN refugee official to visit Italy's Lampedusa island

By Duncan Kennedy BBC News, Rome

This year most migrants have arrived on crowded boats from Tunisia

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, is to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa.

More than 40,000 refugees, including many Libyans, have arrived on the tiny island, often making the crossing in crowded, unsafe boats.

Some have been escaping the violence in north Africa, whilst many have seen an opportunity to get into the EU.

Actress Angelina Jolie is also visiting Lampedusa, whose population is 5,000, as a UN goodwill ambassador.

Mr Guterres' visit to Lampedusa on Sunday is to see for himself the crowded conditions faced by the migrants.

Thousands have been sent to camps on mainland Italy, leading to a political row with other European Union countries which fear the migrants may cross their borders.

Others have been sent back to Tunisia.

In her role as a UN goodwill ambassador, Ms Jolie will also be present on Lampedusa, just as the UN celebrates World Refugee Day on Monday.

It is the 60th anniversary of the UN's refugee convention and the agency will present its annual report at a conference in Rome.

Refugees will also be taking part in the meeting but it comes at a time when the host nation is making it tougher for migrants to stay.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government is under pressure to keep down the number of refugees arriving in the country.

Italy has just issued a new decree increasing the amount of time an illegal migrant can be held from six months to a year and a half.