SHUKRI, A NEW LIFE

Abstract

A glimpse into the realities of life in Europe for thousands of migrants.

Thirty-one-year old Shukri left her four children in Somalia in 2008, walked across North Africa and risked a hazardous raft trip across the Mediterranean to seek a better life in Europe. She is one of thousands of such migrants who attempt the journey each year and although she has been given refugee status in Italy her future still looks bleak. Filmmaker Rossella Schillaci followed Shukri and in the following account describes the realities of her life - and those of thousands of others. In the winter of 2008, over 400 Somali and Sudanese refugees squatted in an abandoned building that had once housed a medical clinic in downtown Turin, northern Italy. The Italian government's indifference towards refugees left them with little alternative. Once refugees are issued a sojourn permit, they are left to fend for themselves, with just a few receiving temporary housing and education. Many rely on Catholic volunteer relief associations for help, but these cannot provide housing and the waiting lists for dormitories seem endless. Many refugees live and sleep on the streets. In larger cities, they squat in old buildings or abandoned factories, enduring overcrowded and grim living conditions often without water or electricity.