Asylum seekers protest at the Melzi, “The bureaucracy is too slow”

The asylum seekers housed at the Barbara Melzi Institute in Tradate have started protesting. On the morning of Tuesday, 26 April, about sixty of the one hundred young foreigners housed by the Institute of Canossian Nuns, gathered at the entrance of the building and closed the gates, preventing anyone from going out or in.

A number of Carabinieri patrols went to the Institute immediately, as did the town councillor Sergio Beghi. Speaking with a number of representatives, it emerged that the reason for the protest was not the conditions of treatment and hospitality, but the bureaucratic delays in obtaining answers concerning their status as asylum seekers.

“We want to know when the committee will answer our questions. We eat and sleep, we can’t do anything else,” explained a delegation of asylum seekers. “We can’t work, because we’d lose our status. We’re only asking for answers as soon as possible.”

At about 9 o’clock in the morning, the Carabinieri convinced the asylum seekers to reopen the gates and return to the building that houses them. Then, a delegation of 4 asylum seekers went to Varese to meet the Prefect and take stock of the situation concerning their status.

The protest did not cause any disorder, there were no incidents and everything went off peacefully.