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  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Hussain Munassar, (34), a Pakistani asylum seeker who arrived in Italy in 2015 together with his wife and that were transferred to Sutera in October 2017,  poses for a portrait in his home  in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: (L-R) Nunzio Vitellaro (33), coordinator of the E.U. poject for the NGO "I Girasoli", Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) and Pietro Alongi, council member for social policies and tourism, walk by an asylum seeker's home in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, cooks lunch for her children in her apartment, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Hussain Munassar, (34), a Pakistani asylum seeker who arrived in Italy in 2015 together with his wife and that were transferred to Sutera in October 2017,  poses for a portrait in his home  in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Nunzio Vitellaro (33), the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli", talks with Hussain Munassar, (34), a Pakistani asylum seeker who arrived in Italy in 2015 together with his wife and that were transferred to Sutera in October 2017, here in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: (L-R) Nunzio Vitellaro (33), coordinator of the E.U. poject for the NGO "I Girasoli", Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) and Pietro Alongi, council member for social policies and tourism, walk by an asylum seeker's home in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mariella Cirami (29), who works for the NGO "I Girasoli", plays with Blessing, daughter of Nigerian asylum seeker Margareth,  in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, cooks lunch with her two children in her apartment, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, cooks lunch for her children in her apartment, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, hugs her daughter as she arrives at their apartment from school, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, cooks lunch for her children in her apartment, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Hussain Munassar, (34), a Pakistani asylum seeker who arrived in Italy in 2015 together with his wife and that were transferred to Sutera in October 2017,  poses for a portrait in his home  in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Margareth (30), a Nigerian asylum seeker who arrived in Sutera in 2015, cooks lunch for her children in her apartment, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: Immigrants walk by the Marsa Open Centre building in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0411.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: A flyer by the Migrants' Network for Equality is here outside the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The flyer denounces the murder of Suleiman, killed in front of a club in Paceville in 2009, and invites people to a peaceful march on the 24th of June. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0573.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: An immigrant sits on a wall at the entrance of the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0568.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: A sub-saharan immigrant that distributes food to his fellow immigrants at lunch is here at the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0506.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: A sub-saharan immigrant that distributes food to his fellow immigrants at lunch is here at the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0504.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: An immigrant watches Al-Jazeera on TV in the leisure room of the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0429.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: A doctor visits an immigrant in his office of the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0392.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: A map of Africa is here in one of the offices of the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0389.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: Ahmed Bugri from Ghana, director of FSM (Foundation for Shelter and Support to Migrants) is here in his office at the Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. "The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres" Ahmed says. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0373.jpg
  • MARSA, MALTA - JUNE 20: Two beds, hanged clothes and the personal belongings of immigrants in the overcrowded Marsa Open Centre in Marsa on June 20, 2011. The Marsa Open Centre's capacity is of 650 people, but now hosts 900 immigrants, most of which are from Somalia. The centre's popoulation is composed of immigrants who received subsidary protection, asylum seekers (immigrants who applied and wait for their case to be handled), and rejected asylum seekers. The Open Centres in Malta serve as a temporary accomodation facility, but they ended becoming permanent accomodation centres. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0556.jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Asylum seekers attend afternoon Italian classes for adults in the elementary school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Images of an illustrated Italian alphabet are seen here in a room of a private home used to teach Italian to adult asylum seekers in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends is seen here in a kindergarten class in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends the 3rd grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A couple of Nigerian asylum seekers and their daughter walk toward the school where they will attend afternoon Italian classes, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Somali asylum seekers attends the 1st grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends the 3rd grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends the 3rd grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Three sub-saharn immigrants that arrived from Libya are here at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0121.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: The entrance of the Lyster Barracks Closed Center,  a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0065.jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Asylum seekers attend afternoon Italian classes for adults in the elementary school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: "The Garden of Hospitalty" (Giardino dell'Accoglienza), the result of a project of urban regeneration carried out by asylum seekers with the NGO "I Girasoli", is seen here in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A room in a private home used to teach Italian to adult asylum seekers is seen here in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends is seen here in a kindergarten class in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends is seen here in a kindergarten class in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends is seen here in a kindergarten class in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Nigerian asylum seekers attends is seen here in a kindergarten class in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Somali asylum seekers attends the 1st grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Somali asylum seekers attending the 1st grade of elementary school is seen her as she walks in the school hallway in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Two Maltese guards look over immigrants at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0354.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Sub-saharan immigrants that arrived from Libya are here at the  Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0308.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Sub-saharan immigrants that arrived from Libya are here in a room with catholic icons at the  Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0299.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Sub-saharan immigrants that arrived from Libya watch an Italian TV channel at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0286.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Two sub-saharan immigrants that arrived from Libya are behind bars here at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0268.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Groom, a 27 years old immigrant from Ethiopia that arrived from Libya three months ago, is here at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0233.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Two sub-saharan immigants that arrived from Libya make braids for their friend (center) at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0217.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Sub-saharan immigrants that arrived from Libya play checkers on self-made boards and plastic caps at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0173.jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: An Ethiopian immigrant that arrived from Libya stays in her room at the Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0079.jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The daughter of  Somali asylum seekers attends the 1st grade of elementary school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A map of Italy is seen here in a room of a private home used to teach Italian to adult asylum seekers in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • HAL FAR, MALTA - JUNE 20: Lyster Barracks Closed Center, a detention center for immigrants in Hal Far (which translates as Rats' town), Malta, on June 20, 2011. All immigrants who enter in Malta illegally are detained. Upon arrival to Malta, irregular migrants and asylum seekers are sent to one of three dedicated immigration detention facilities: the Lyster Barracks Closed Centre, the Safi Closed Centre, and the Ta’kandja Closed Centre. Once apprehended by the authorities, immigrants remain in detention even after they apply for refugee status. detention lasts as long as it takes for asylum claims to be determined. This usually takes months; asylum seekers often wait five to 10 months for their first interview with the Refugee Commissioner. Asylum seekers may be detained for up to 12 months: at this point, if their claim is still pending, they are released and transferred to an Open Center.
    CIPG_20110620_NYT_MALTA__MG_0355.jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of the town of Sutera, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Abandoned houses are seen here in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A woman walks by the school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of home and the countryside of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of  the "Rabato" district in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of the town of Sutera, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of the town of Sutera, in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Residents walk by the church in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The remains of a house in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A child walks by the school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: An empty classroom is seen here in the elementary school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Artwork about equality carried out by students is seen here in the elementary school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Nunzio Vitellaro (33), the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli", is seen here in the playground of the school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Carmelina Lombardo, owner of a snack bar, is seen here entering her business in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Two residents of Sutera chat on a bench in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: The hill "San Marco" is seen here from in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Line-drying clothes are seen here in "Rabato", a district of the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A view of  the "Rabato" district in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) is seen here at work in his office in the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) poses for a portrait on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A resident of Sutera places a pot of flowers in front of her house entrance in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A house for sale is seen here in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A woman hangs clothes on her balcony in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Abandoned houses are seen here in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Abandoned houses are seen here in the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A child walks by the school in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: A caretaker cleans a classroom in the elementary school of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Two residents of Sutera chat on a bench in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Houses are seen here in "Rabato", a district of the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Line-drying clothes are seen here in "Rabato", a district of the historical center of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Nunzio Vitellaro (33), the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli", is seen here at work in the NGO headquarters in Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • SUTERA, ITALY - 8 JANUARY 2018: Mayor of Sutera Giuseppe Grizzanti (63) is seen here on the balcony of the town hall of Sutera, Italy, on January 8th 2018.<br />
<br />
Sutera is an ancient town plastered onto the side of an enormous monolithic rock, topped with a convent, in the middle of the western half of Sicily, about 90 minutes by car south of the Sicilian capital Palermo<br />
Its population fell from 5,000 in 1970 to 1,500 today. In the past 3 years its population has surged  after the local mayor agreed to take in some of the thousands of migrants that have made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Sicily.<br />
<br />
“Sutera was disappearing,” says mayor Giuseppe Grizzanti. “Italians, bound for Germany or England, packed up and left their homes empty. The deaths of inhabitants greatly outnumbered births. Now, thanks to the refugees, we have a chance to revive the city.”<br />
 Through an Italian state-funded project called SPRAR (Protection System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers), which in turn is co-funded by the European Union's Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, Sutera was given financial and resettlement assistance that was co-ordinated by a local non-profit organization called Girasoli (Sunflowers). Girasoli organizes everything from housing and medical care to Italian lessons and psychological counselling for the new settlers.<br />
The school appears to have been the biggest beneficiary of the refugees’ arrival, which was kept open thanks to the migrants.<br />
Nunzio Vittarello, the coordinator of the E.U. project working for the NGO “I Girasoli" says that there are 50 families in Sutera at the moment.
    CIPG_20180108_LIBERATION-Sutera__M3_...jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71), poses for a portrait in his office in the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9852-BW.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: A document, issued by the registry office of the municipality of Palermo to migrants requesting residence in the municipality of Palermo, is seen here in the registry office of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_8835-BW.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71) is seen here by paintings of Saint Rosalia (left), the saint patron of Palermo, and Saint Benedict the Moor (right, a 16th century Sicilian friar born of African slaves), here in a chapel of the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9861.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71), is seen here at his desk during an interview in the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9743.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71), poses for a portrait in his office in the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9847-BW.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71), poses for a portrait in his office in the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9843-BW.jpg
  • PALERMO, ITALY - 17 JANUARY 2019: Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando (71), poses for a portrait in his office in the town hall of Palermo, Italy, on January 17th 2019.<br />
<br />
Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, together with the mayors of Naples, Florence and Parma, are rebelling against Interior Minister Matteo Salvini by refusing to implement the new controversial security law which reduces the rights of asylum seekers.<br />
The "Salvini decree", passed in November 2018 by the far-right government, removes humanitarian protection status – one of the three forms of asylum offered by Italy – which means thousands of people would no longer be entitled to state shelter.<br />
“It is not an act of civil disobedience or conscientious objection, but the simple application of the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to all those who live in our country”, Leoluca Orlando said.
    CIPG_20190117_NYT_Palermo_M3_9830-BW.jpg
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