In Favara, a town in the province of Agrigento, last night the symbol of hospitality was set on fire. It is a boat that had been seized from Tunisian traffickers and which for at least five years had become the symbol ofhospitality and immigration. “El Peskador”, this is the name that was chosen for the fishing boat, was located in the piazzale Belvedere San Francesco. The Friars Minor of the Convent of Sant’Antonio had also set up a permanent nativity scene, with the writing on the side “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. Whoever started the fire perhaps did not think the same way.
The boat set on fire
The firefighters immediately arrived at the site and turned off the flames. Investigations by the carabinieri of the Favara lieutenancy are underway to try to trace the perpetrators of the gesture. According to what was reconstructed by the military, the fire occurred around 3 am on the night between Friday 21 and Saturday 22 August in the Piazzale Belvedere San Francesco in Favara. The work was conceived by the Friars Minor of the Convent of Sant’Antonio di Favara in December 2015 who wanted in this way to raise awareness through a nativity scene set up on a boat of migrants, the values contained in hospitality. As stated on the Favaraweb website, the structure would have gone completely destroyed. The firefighters managed to tame the flames and now it will be up to the carabinieri to find the culprits who destroyed the work in the night.
An exasperated situation
At this moment the situation is certainly not easy and perhaps the boat last night, more than a symbol of welcome, has turned into that of exasperation. In the last two days there have been two disembarkation bans at the quarantine ship Aurelia with 250 migrants on board. The first dry did not come from the mayor of the Pd of Trapani, Giacomo Tranchida. While the second from the first citizen grillino of Augusta, Cettina Di Pietro, where the boat was finally hijacked. Tranchida had accused the government of thinking of playing naval battle and of having taken his city as the outskirts of Italy. Perhaps the government, also given the terrible event that took place last night in Favara, should start thinking better how to deal with the issue of immigration. Before it’s too late.
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