The girl, named as Linda by Italian authorities, landed on the island of Lampedusa on October 17 after 26 hours at sea in an overcrowded wooden boat carrying 70 other asylum seekers from Tunisia. Authorities in Tunisia are trying to repatriate her. Her parents have been placed under a curfew and charged with child abandonment. “Linda is doing well and is in a community center for children in Palermo after being transferred from Lampedusa to a community in Agrigento province,” said Majdi Karbai, who is one of three Tunisian MPs representing Tunisians living in Italy. “She keeps asking about her parents and when she’ll be able to see them again.” He added: “Her parents are in Tunisia and the Tunisian authorities [on 26 October] imposed a travel ban on them. They would prefer to repatriate Linda, but the procedures are not so easy as the girl is under the legal protection of a local guardian.” Carbay said Linda did not understand what was happening and was in emotional shock. The international NGO Save the Children has provided support to Linda. “She plays with other children and a psychosocial support group helps her to release her fears and stress,” said Giovanna De Benedetto, spokeswoman for Save the Children. “We are looking out for her well-being.” Linda and her family are originally from Sayada, a seaside town near Monastir, in the Sahel region, 20km (12 miles) south of Sousse and 162km south of Tunis. Due to the current political crisis and food shortages in Tunisia, her father, a street food vendor selling chapati and mlawi sandwiches in Sayada, was unable to make a living and decided to leave Tunisia with his family. Her sister Linda, who is seven years old, has a heart condition and needs constant medical attention. Her parents had hoped in Europe that the child would be able to receive the necessary care and before leaving they had prepared a file containing his clinical records. Migrant boats must be approached by sea and passengers must walk or swim to reach the boats. On October 16, as Linda’s father held her in his arms, he suddenly heard his wife scream. The woman, who was accompanying their other daughter, had entered the water carrying some luggage and was afraid of drowning before reaching the boat. “At some point Linda’s father had to step back to support the rest of the family so he temporarily put Linda on the boat,” says Karbai, who worked as a cultural mediator in Lampedusa in 2011 and learned the details from one of the members of Linda’s family. after the ship left Tunisia. “Meanwhile, the driver of the boat saw the big headlights of a truck and thought it was the police, so he started the engine and drove off, leaving Linda’s family behind.” Linda’s parents declined to speak to the media. They are charged with abandoning a minor and may be charged with human trafficking. They were released from prison after the news of the girl’s arrival in Lampedusa. Tunisia’s Ministry of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly said in a statement that discussions are ongoing with the Tunisian consular services in Palermo about the child’s repatriation and that a Tunisian diplomatic delegation is expected to meet the judge of the juvenile court in Palermo. On Friday, a Sicilian judge blocked the girl’s repatriation. Before making the final decision, the judge ordered that a report be sent to Palermo on the causes of the accident and Linda’s departure without her parents. Subscribe to This is Europe The most central stories and debates about Europeans – from identity to the economy to the environment Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The newly elected government in Italy led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist origins, has promised to introduce tough measures to prevent the arrival of asylum seekers from North Africa. . North Africans are often considered “economic migrants” and repatriated by European authorities who, despite political instability and poverty in their countries, do not consider them worthy candidates for international protection. EU migration policies are pushing thousands of people to risk their lives to take more dangerous routes to reach Europe. The bodies of two men and two women were recovered off Lampedusa on Monday. The four people had been missing since Sunday, when a boat carrying about 30 people sank 24 nautical miles south of Sicily. The body of a newborn girl was found the day before after another boat capsized off Labione, an uninhabited islet. Meanwhile, two NGO rescue boats carrying hundreds of asylum seekers in the central Mediterranean are expected to face the first test of migration policy under Italy’s new far-right government after Rome threatened to block them from entering Italian waters. The Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking, operated by the NGO SOS Mediterranee, has more than 200 people on board. The other vessel, Humanity One, which flies the German flag and is run by the German charity SOS Humanity, is carrying around 180 people. Most of them left Libya in small boats. The ships have asked Italian authorities for permission to disembark their passengers in a safe port in Sicily, but have so far received no response. The decision on whether to allow the disembarkation of those on the two NGO ships will be made by the new interior minister. Matteo Piandedosi, a technocrat backed by all parties, was given the post sought to retake Matteo Salvini, who made high-profile moves to block such arrivals at Italian ports. Piantedosi, who said “immigration governance is a priority,” sent a memo to police departments and port authorities on Tuesday, writing that the two ships did not “follow the rules on security, border control and anti-trafficking.” illegal immigration. and that the government could prohibit ships from entering Italian territorial waters. Nearly 20,000 people have died or gone missing since 2014 in the central Mediterranean, the most precarious passage to Europe and one of the deadliest borders in the world.
