uhg... jesus…anyway... so if I stop talking it's because the fucking driving is insane and... like... there’s... there's no time to blink... you can't blink... anyway... see... I told you... it's gonna be a fucking rant... I know the fucking glare from my glasses I'm sorry... you can't help that... and I'm a hot mess... oh my god... uhg jesus... it's a really bad day... really bad day... so I... I talk a lot about things I hated about Sicily and I've been very... kind of vague... because I don't really nessessary badmouth Italy or Italians are... things like that... this is my personal experience... I chose to come here... and I'm unhappy... but people want like... exact... um…examples?... I guess... people want more specific examples...

The Sigonella US Air Force Base in Sicily was established in 1959 to oversee the Middle East and North Africa. It was a logistics base in 2011 during the NATO attack on Libya. Gaddafi's assassination has made Italy's refugee situation more challenging. Before the Arab Spring, Libya could not accommodate refugees from Lampedusa and Sicily. It signed an agreement with Libya to set up refugee camps on the coast. This meant that refugees were sent back to Africa, where they had just been exiled. The camps were abandoned in Libya, which had lost its dictator.

Mineo Housing and Malinai Housing were used as two housing facilities for the US Naval Air Station Sigonella since 2001. However, the lease for Mineo was terminated in 2011 due to the realignment of US military bases following the Libya bombings, which resulted in staff reductions. The Italian Government then used Mineo Housing as a refugee housing facility from 2012 to 2019. Mineo was the largest detention facility in Europe, with 4,000 refugees under application at one point. The government took control of the district, closed it off and kept it under tight police and military surveillance. Protests against the poor living conditions intensified. In 2019, the government rounded up 19 Nigerian mafia members, allegedly hiding in the facility, and subsequently closed it down. In 2020, the Mineo housing was returned to the management company, but the company is suing the Italian Government for compensation for damage to the facility, which is now abandoned.

シチリア島シゴネッラ米空軍基地は中東から北アフリカを見据えた戦略的基地として1959年に設立、NATOによるリビアへの攻撃が開始された2011年には後方支援の拠点として機能した。だがカダフィー暗殺はイタリアの難民問題を一層、困難なものにしてしまった。アラブの春がリビアに及ぶ以前、政府はランペドゥーサ島やシチリア沿岸に押し寄せる難民を国内に収容しきれず、リビア政府と協定を結んで難民収容施設をリビア沿岸に設けていた。このため難民たちは、祖末なボートで溺死の危険を顧みず亡命してきたばかりの アフリカ大陸に送り返されていた。独裁者を失い無政府状態となった現リビアで、その収容施設は放置された。
ミネオ・ハウジングとマリナイ・ハウジングはシゴネッラ米海軍航空基地のための２つの住宅施設として2001年から使用されていたが、ミネオの賃貸契約は、リビア爆撃以降の米軍基地再編による人員削減によって2011年に打ち切られた。 その後、イタリア政府は2012年から2019年まで、ミネオ・ハウジングを難民収容施設として利用。一時は4000人の申請中難民を収容し、ミネオはヨーロッパ最大の収容施設となっていた。 政府は地区を塀で囲って閉鎖し警察と軍によって厳重に管理した。また、劣悪な生活環境に対して難民の抗議活動も活発化した。 2019年、政府は施設に潜伏していたとされるナイジェリア系マフィア、19名を検挙、その後、施設は閉鎖された。2020年ミネオ住宅は管理会社に返還されているが、同社はイタリア政府に対し施設のダメージに対する補償を求めて訴訟中、現在、施設は放置されたままとなっている。

Homes for America, Sigonella House Tour Marinai

A *Candy Factory Project / Homes for America

*Candy Factory Projects