Kidnapped at the age of 15, raped, beaten and then forced to cross the Adriatic in a rubber boat to prostitute herself in Italy, torn by the sharp meshes of the prostitution racket. But she, Alma “Adelina” Sejdini, eventually rebelled and those torturers had them arrested, for her and for all the others before and after her, vanquishing a gang of Albanian exploiters who had forced her to sell her body for money by beating and brutalizing her. He loved Italy, and his true, great desire was to be a full part of it by obtaining citizenship. On her passport, however, there have always remained those X that took away her identity and classified her as a stateless person with no land and no home. Until it wasn’t even that anymore.
The battle against the Albanian mafia and the stateless status
The life of the warrior Adelina, who arrived in Italy in 1996, ended at the age of 47 in Ponte Garibaldi on Saturday evening: she threw herself into the void, taking with her all the dashed hopes, the courage and pride with which she had defeated those ” he cut off a leg with scissors and sprinkled the wounds with salt to hurt me more », who did not even consider her a slave, but something to be managed for profit and pleasure. The same courage with which she had begun the battle against breast cancer, the endless cycles of chemotherapy and surgery, with which she relentlessly tried to be recognized that citizenship that would allow her to really start a life in Italy, that country who since his arrival had helped and supported in the fight against the Albanian mafia and violence against women.
The last blow came when, renewing her residence permit in Pavia, she was offered Albanian citizenship. A country where she would never return, especially after putting herself in danger by allowing the arrest of 40 people and the denunciation of another 80. To help her the carabinieri, whom she called “her guardian angels”, who had never abandoned her and who affectionately called her “Adelina 112”. Her contribution had earned her an extension of her residence permit for extraordinary reasons, but the Italian citizenship never arrived. Having refused the Albanian one, she had also been deprived of her statelessness status, with the risk of having to give up the (few) state benefits she had obtained and the possibility of applying for a council house.
Adelina’s last evening
Last October 28, in an extreme gesture of protest, Adelina da Pavia (where she lived in precarious conditions) presented herself at the Viminale and set herself on fire: hospitalized, she was discharged, then on November 5 she returned to the Viminale again. for a lonely protest. In a live Facebook report she had reported that on that occasion she had been blocked by some police officers, and that for her a way of leaving Rome had been issued for a year. Desperate, in the pouring rain on Saturday even the last flame of hope went out: she arrived at Ponte Garibaldi, watched the Tiber flow and then threw herself underneath. A suicide dictated by depression, the investigators write, who could still decide to open a file to investigate the circumstances of the death. Meanwhile, friends have written to President Mattarella to ask that Adelina be recognized as Italian citizenship, albeit posthumously. And the associations she had come into contact with throughout her life demand “justice”, and to know what actually happened on Saturday night.
Victims of Violence Association: “She was a ghost, she was left alone”
“He helped the sex slaves. She got cancer. In Albania, the underworld would have killed her. In Italy, he did not have a home – these are the words of the operators of the Victims of Violence association – I DO NOT – In recent times he was a guest in a parish in Pavia. He was doing chemo. Not even the money for the taxi, to go to and from the hospital. She wanted nothing, Adelina, only citizenship: she deserved it, she had the courage of a lion. She was left alone. He refused Albanian citizenship, he was stateless. Italy did not recognize her citizenship, took away her stateless status. She has become a ghost. He had no more rights. After setting herself on fire in front of the Viminale, she was notified of the sheet of via da Roma. The only solution was to jump from Ponte Garibaldi and crash onto the concrete quay. He was 47 years old. We will not stop ”.
Valentina Grippo, group leader in the Mixed Group in the Region and regional coordinator of Action, also spoke about Adelina’s death, who announced her intention to promote the creation of a stable network between the anti-violence centers of Lazio that work on the issue of trafficked women.
“Those who suffer, those who have experienced unspeakable traumas, must never be left alone – said Grippo – we should all wake up a little shocked by Adelina’s story, to understand what we can actively do to help those left behind: institutions , of course, but every single citizen. For my part, I will promote a network of anti-violence centers in Lazio that work specifically on the issue of women victims of trafficking. Everyone’s help is needed, now more than ever “.
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