They are only benches. Simple wood, colorfully painted. But at the Molo Favaloro in Lampedusa, they have become symbols: of arrival, of a break, of dignity in a place where the opposite is often the case.
The port, where migrants disembark every day, shows the fractures in Europe's approach to refugee and migration. The benches, erected by civil society, tell another story: that of a solidary response to the silence of the institutions.
In the spring of 2023, a delegation from the Intercultural Commission EcumMè of the province of Bergamo traveled to Lampedusa. What they found there left no room for indifference: Molo Favaloro, the first European ground for so many refugees, offered neither protection nor the possibility to rest. Instead, there was decay, neglect, and abandonment.
This is how the CAL-CARE project was born. The name - a combination of the Italian "calcare" (rock) and the English "care" (care) - reflects the ambition to create a place of strength and care. The benches were designed, transported and placed in the harbor. Not by the authorities, but by volunteers. In workshops, children and teenagers from the dioceses of Bergamo were involved in the design of the benches. They painted, wrote, discussed migration and justice. There is also a bench in their hometown: a bridge between the experiences on the island and the parishes in northern Italy.
The benches are much more than furniture, they represent a moment of humanity in the midst of chaos.
Not at the port, but in front of the church of Lampedusa, in the Piazza della Chiesa, another bench has found its place. It is here that the link is made between the needs of the incoming and the needs of the island community. The bench is not only an invitation to rest, but also a reminder that flight and arrival are not abstract concepts, as the nuns of the local convent, who are coordinating the project, point out. They are stories of people who have become part of the reality of Lampedusa.
A political vacuum filled with civil courage
The story of the benches is also a story of failure. The Molo Favaloro has been a focal point of migration for years, but basic needs such as seating, hygiene or shelter from the elements are ignored by the authorities. Volunteers and local initiatives have had to fill the gaps, from installing toilets to providing benches.
"Each bench is a silent protest against the failure of politics," says an activist of the Forum Lampedusa Solidale. "We are doing what needs to be done, but we cannot replace those responsible. It is their task to create humane conditions".
The benches at the Molo and in front of the church are more than just objects. They are a silent appeal. They are memorials. They tell of a civil society that resists forgetting. Of people who refuse to accept the state of indifference.
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