“They come here when they are exhausted from hunger and thirst.” This is how a police officer tells ilGiornale.it about the vicissitudes no minors accompanied who, as soon as they land in Italy, flee the initial reception centers and take trains or buses to Rome, Milan and Naples.
These are children and young people between the ages of 10 and 17, all male, who mainly come from Libya, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco and Nigeria. First, they try to make ends meet in the big cities by stealing or get into prostitution or pedophilia. And then finally they ask for shelter Police stations. “In most cases they came spontaneously, while cases of arrests of minors for committing crimes are rarer,” explain the police at a police station in the capital, who have been receiving up to seven minors for several days. “There has been constant coming and going since this spring, and now that the landings have increased, it has become even more frequent,” the police officers tell us, pointing out the difficulties they face every day. “These children are sleeping on the floor or on chairs in the waiting rooms because we obviously do not have beds or showers in the police stations,” the officers continue. It is not possible to quantify the spread of the problem, which mainly affects the railway police or police stations located near train stations. “Rome is the city most affected by this phenomenon, which began two years ago, but with significantly lower numbers because there were fewer landings then,” say the officials, who are worried about not being able to manage this situation. “The problem of unaccompanied minors entering Italy illegally requires serious consideration. This is an emergency emergency. “In fact, human traffickers focus their “business” on young and very young people, knowing that they will not be repatriated,” he explains Domenico PianoseSecretary General of Coisp, who then adds: “As soon as they arrive in Italy, these children begin a difficult journey which often, especially in big cities, results in them turning up at the police, desperate and hungry, asking to be identified .” to obtain accommodation in care facilities that cannot accommodate them in a timely manner.
The first problem is actually that SmugglersIn Tunisia, tickets for minors are sold at double the price because an adult can stay in the CPR for 18 months, risking repatriation, while the unaccompanied minor arrives in the small boats and is never repatriated because he enjoys special protection. The second problem, as Pianese points out, is that “only thanks to the great humanity of the police can the minors count on shelter and hot meals for days.” Obviously, this is a situation that cannot continue forever. “The need for municipalities and regions to contribute is imperative, as the State Police cannot be the headquarters for every emergency in the country,” he concludes. In fact, centers such as Caritas or the Community of Sant’Egidio are not always able to offer hospitality to these children and, however, it is often easier for the social workers to be there first and try to place them in a group home or similar structures. “But it takes days for this to happen.” Sometimes they stay in the police stations for up to a week and we are forced to look after them,” the officers tell us dejectedly, as they are forced to monitor these minors day and night, to prevent fights from breaking out on religious or other grounds.