Lampedusa in Winter

A radio distress call from a refugee boat: the passengers haven’t eaten for three days and are exhausted. It’s winter on Lampedusa. The tourists have all gone home and it’s cold on the windy Italian island, which lies some 110 kilometers (68 miles) from the coast of North Africa. There’s a feeling of unease on the small island, which is the first port of call for African migrants looking to reach Europe. Not only are they protesting against the poor treatment they receive, but the local fishing community is also restless. The cargo capacity of the new ferry – the only way onto and off of the island for its 5,000 inhabitants – isn’t sufficient to transport their catches to the mainland. Angry, the fishermen block the arrival of the boat. Stocks on the island are slowly running low, and store shelves are frightenly bare. There’s division among the inhabitants of the island, and the garbage is piling up – as are the leaky, abandoned immigrant boats in the harbor. In the meantime, a lawyer from Palermo is trying to arrange a place of burial for those who have died, and the mayor is trying to keep everyone calm. Eventually, the fishermen get back to work and the ferry is allowed to dock again. The island gets back to business as usual – until the next call to the coastguard: once again, an overloaded boat is bobbing on the waves.