(back)
Minors
The Unità
Cittadini Senza Territorio, an organization dealing with immigration and
homelessness and managed by the municipality of Genova, only provides
accommodation to undocumented persons if they are unaccompanied minors. The Unità
Cittadini Senza Territorio acts as a mediator between the police forces
(which usually bring a minor to the Unità) and the organizations managed by the
Unità (where minors are placed), though some may end up there by word of mouth.
All minors staying in an institution are signaled to the Committee for Minors
that will examine the possibility of an accompanied repatriation and in the
meantime are placed in a temporary shelter (space for 2 to 4 people) where there
is a regular turnover of people. If the parents cannot be traced (in Italy or
abroad) or have died, they may stay in the country and are placed in a long-term
institution (space for 20 to 30 people) where they will be provided with
schooling and possibly a professional training. They may leave of their own
accord as they aren’t closed services. Most of the minors in the institutions
are from Albania, Rumania or Morocco, though origins vary according to the
period.
Adults who come there for help are directed towards
non-governmental organizations that can provide them with answers.
Answers?
Edda Pando from Todo
Cambia in Milan, an organization (without accommodation) for undocumented
migrants, feels that one is in a “tied-hands situation” for helping
undocumented migrants to find accommodation. Like Eric Wynants (Belgium), she
comments that it is almost impossible to do so due to space being so incredibly
limited in the different shelters and organizations that provide accommodation,
such as at Caritas or in convents.