Interview: We give migrants hope to integrate in Europe: reception center director

Sebastiano Maccarrone, the director of Cara di Mineo, considered Europe's largest reception center for asylum seekers, works an hour away from the port city of Catania in the middle of Sicily's crops of lemon, olive and other fruit trees.

This village, of 404 houses, was formerly a residential compound for personnel of a U.S. military air station. It is here that thousands of migrants of some 150 different ethnicities and several nationalities live together united by the same hope: to get a residence permit to start a new life, far away from war and unrest.

"Since the center opened in 2011, we have hosted around 20,000 people here," Maccarrone told Xinhua in an interview.

"Lots of government delegations from around Europe, including from Germany, France and Belgium, have come here to study our model," he added.

As many as 450 employees work at the center, which is financed by the Italian state with the support of the European Union (EU) and is managed by seven companies specialized in services including health and food.

"Majority of our migrants arrive in Sicily from the Libyan coasts," Maccarrone went on explaining as migrants entered and exited the center behind him. "They are here in a state of freedom," he added.

"We have built this center on the important principle of collaboration, to the point that we hold democratic elections and organize many activities of Cara di Mineo, from food menu to festivals, with the help of the representatives of very nation," he told Xinhua.

At the beginning, he said, the migrants after landing in Italy are sent to a reception center by government authorities, but this does not mean that they are forced to remain there.

"Each migrant has to be back to Cara di Mineo by 8:00 p.m. local time. If this does not happen for three consecutive days, then we consider that the migrant has left the center and we cancel his badge," Maccarrone said. Yet, this happens in a few cases, less than 10 percent of the total, as migrants know that it is much more convenient for them to remain, he added.

So why should a migrant looking for freedom stay in the Cara di Mineo for a long time? "They come here without anything in their pockets and in desperate need of a residence permit, otherwise they are illegal and forced to leave Italy," Maccarrone said.

As soon as they arrive in the center, they receive all they need for daily life. "This means a bathroom kit, clothing, food, three telephone cards worth a total of 15 euros (16.3 U.S. dollars) and all kinds of help: from psychological to legal assistance, in addition to material to apply for the residence permit," he said.

Also, each migrant is given 2.5 euros (2.7 U.S. dollars) per day that they can spend inside the center or put aside to buy something bigger. The Italian State pays the rent of the compound as well as 29.5 euros (32 U.S. dollars) per day for each migrant, which include services, activities and salaries of the center's employees.

The migrants meanwhile are encouraged to learn a profession, said Maccarrone, pointing at those playing soccer on the football pitch. "We have created a football team of asylum seekers, and even a musical group which performed in many places around here," he said.

Other activities include textile, design and cooking workshops. "We do not sell their products at present. But being able to do these jobs is fundamental when they are taken to the so called second-level reception facilities, or smaller centers, and are asked to look for a job in order to be allowed to remain in Italy," he told Xinhua.

Normally, it takes up to a year to get the first residence permit at Cara di Mineo, he said. This might be a long time for people in their 20s or 30s, mainly men as "women are preferably hosted in smaller structures," who are full of energy and desire freedom.

"But we give them a chance, a hope. Europe is facing the most incredible migrant flow in history, nobody was prepared for this. And this is what we are doing -- a step to help them with their big dream of integration," Maccarrone said. Endit