"Lampedusa: Spark of Good or/and Evil”

In the past five years Europe has faced an unprecedented flow of migrants. Within the first seven months of 2017, for instance, 93,360 migrants had arrived in Italy, an increase of more than 10 percent since 2016. Faced by a complicate scenario with manifold political and national security issues, the European Union remains divided regarding measures to receive and integrate the migrants. Many European States driven by civil society and populist parties have preferred to close their borders given the unknown and the uncertainty that migrants inevitably bring Bauman (2016). Pope Francis has challenged European leaders with his vision for a renewed European continent that promotes integration, respect for human dignity and the common good. He called for the renewal of “a culture which privileges dialogue as a form of encounter” (239).[1] Through ethnographic work, I will present the case study of Lampedusa, a Italian island, which is at the forefront of the European migration challenge. By looking at the experience of encounter with migrants, my research examines how relationship is the starting place wherein persons come to know and to understand the common good (Donati, 2008). It is in the place of encounter with the migrant, that residents of Lampedusa come to know and to recognize the dignity of the person. This recognition gives way to responsibility and policy actions.

[1] Conferral of the Charlemagne Prize, Address of His Holiness Pope Francis, Sala Regia, may 6 2016.