Sicily Overwhelmed with Yalda Hakim Our World

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A flimsy inflatable dinghy full of migrants is adrift in the open

sea, around 30 miles from the Libyan coast.

They have no fuel, no water and no food.

They have been detected by a Spanish NGO.

Most of these migrants have never seen the ocean.

They can't swim.

And after hours at sea in the sweltering heat,

they are exhausted.

This boat has just arrived with about 500 migrants who have

been rescued, trying to make the very dangerous journey

from Libya to Sicily.

So far this year, more than 80,000 people from different

countries have arrived.

Around 2,000 have drowned.

But the vast majority are not refugees fleeing war,

but those in search of a better life.

Most will stay in Italy.

Sympathy for the migrants is wearing thin.

And blame is starting to focus on the NGOs saving lives.

There are critics who have accused NGOs of acting as a taxi

service to Europe.

There are fears now that anti-immigration groups

are exploiting the crisis for their own ends.

So you would like to see this mosque closed?

Yeah, I would like to see a museum or something else.

Tensions here are rising, but what is the solution

to Italy's migrant crisis?

This is the gateway from Sicily to the rest of Italy.

A short passage for many towards their new lives.

This is the route that hundreds of thousands of migrants follow

to get to the mainland.

Many of them end up in the north, but some are being settled

in the south of the country.

I'm on my way to one of those towns.

In this quiet corner of Calabria, for centuries, the locals have

only spoken Italian.

But in recent years, Riace has suffered from an exodus

of people in search of jobs and better prospects.

And things are changing.

Hello, ciao, how are you?

Today, over half the population are new arrivals from Africa

and the Arab world.

The mayor's initiative, with government and EU money,

is breathing life into his town and providing a haven

for recent arrivals who have endured much to reach here.

These young men of 16 and 17 are from the country which makes up

the second largest number of migrants to come to Italy

this year - Bangladesh.

The boys told me they never intended to come to Europe

that they had paid people smugglers to take them to Libya for work.

But when they got there, they became their victims.

Bought and sold from one trafficker to another,

the boys managed to finally get onto the boats for Italy,

but their ordeal was not over.

Not everyone is welcoming to migrants coming to Europe.

This is a promo video from a group

calling themselves the Identitarian Movement.

Made up of mainly young, tech-savvy members, they have been

described as the hipster right.

With headquarters in Austria and France, they are a small

but growing group and their aim is to campaign against immigration.

Senior membership of the group is known to have links with neo-Nazis.

Their annual camp is all about physical strength and fitness

but with a definite sense of purpose.

Stop immigration now!

This summer, the movement tried to stop a MSF rescue ship

from leaving port.

The stunt ultimately failed but in just a few weeks

the organisation raised over 70,000 euros and they have now chartered

a ship they say they will use to disrupt trafficking and monitor

the NGOs in the Mediterranean.

I had heard that the group was developing plans

for further action.

Their Italy coordinator, Lorenzo Fiato, has flown down

specially from Milan.

I want to defend Europe from mass immigration and multiculturalism.

We think that in every city where multiculturalism is present

there is also radical Islam and violence regarding illegal

immigrants and more.

So you want European culture, Western societies, to just be white?

It is not about white.

It is about the other side of multiculturalism.

This is a different kind of migration.

These are thousands of illegal migrants coming to our shores

and flooding into our cities.

Lorenzo told me that it wasn't just new migrants that concerned him.

His organisation has a policy of re-patronisation of the children

of existing immigrants.

You want these people who live in Europe, who are second or third

generation, to go back to the home country of their own parents?

I want them to respect our way of life or leave.

That simple.

And the people who respect your way of life?

Sorry.

The problem is not about them.

But most of them maybe have some parents or friends or people

who are related to them.

So I can't trust anyone in this matter.

But Lorenzo's first goal is to combat those he sees

as facilitating mass immigration - the NGOs.

You say you don't want the NGOs operating in those waters,

that you want them to stop.

They say that if they do stop, more lives will be lost.

No, I think this is false.

Because these people are coming to Europe because they know someone

will save them.

You cannot solve this problem by helping the human traffickers

doing their jobs, because they want to transport illegal migrants,

so you are just helping them.

There has been another rescue - this time by the organisation

Save the Children.

An inflatable carrying 125 people has been located off Libya.

It has been at sea for 24 hours, it is beginning to deflate,

and it is taking on water.

25 children are on board, four babies, and several

pregnant woman.

-- pregnant women.

And there are fatalities.

Four people died - one the mother of a 15-month-old baby.

The ship comes into a port in Sicily.

It is where a local prosecutor is investigating whether some NGO

ships may be facilitating illegal immigration.

The NGO missions are coordinated by the Italian coastguard

but the country's legal system has launched two investigations

into whether they are saving lives or assisting illegal immigrants

on their journey.

Do you feel that by rescuing these boats that the NGOs are somehow

encouraging the people smuggling trade?

There are critics who have accused NGOs of acting

as a taxi service to Europe.

They say if they weren't operating, more lives would be lost.

Back on the quay, the Save the Children ship is preparing

to continue its mission.

Since last September, the boat has rescued more

than 4,000 migrants at sea, including over 500 children.

Hi, David.

I asked the captain what he thought of claims that NGOs were acting

as a taxi service to migrants and people smugglers.

Yes, I have heard that before and I think I can see

why people say that, but the evidence is

absolutely to the contrary.

You only have to see the craft they put them in to realise

how absolutely cynical and ruthless they are.

They do not need a pull factor, they are pushing these

people out come what may, and if we are not

there they will drown.

What is the solution here because the numbers

are not dropping at all?

The solution is a political solution, it is not within the remit

of a humanitarian organisation to solve this, but people

will continue to do this until there is a safer legal way

to do it.

In the meantime, this tragedy will go on unfolding

and we will continue to pick up the pieces and continue to get

the blame for something that only other people can solve.

I'm sorry, that is how it is.

Lorenzo has an important day.

He is waiting for some new Identitarian recruits who have

come from the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

Hello, hi.

Viviana and Claudia are university students and they have come to help

on the Defend Europe launch.

Lorenzo says that he would take me on a tour of the town.

All these restaurants are owned by migrants?

Yeah, most of them, it is easy to organise and easy to do.

The food is not so healthy.

They grew up like rabbits.

They grew up like rabbits?

What do you mean?

It is like saying there are a lot of them and they continue to appear.

In Italy they are replacing the people living in

these neighbourhoods.

We are always less and they are always more.

This is a mosque.

What to think when you see this mosque here?

I do not feel anything, because Islam is OK

if it is in the Middle East or in some other places.

I just know this is not the place for a mosque here.

That sounds Islamophobic.

I want to prevent this actually.

You want to prevent Islamophobia?

I want to prevent hate and fights and the clash of civilisations.

You would like to see this mosque closed?

I would like to see a museum or something in its place.

As we sat down, I wanted to find out why Viviana and Claudia had

joined the movement.

For Claudia it was something more personal.

There are accusations that this is a racist group,

an Islamophobic group, a group that is linked to neo-Nazis.

So what do Sicilian think of Lorenzo and his friends,

their movement and views?

There are accusations that this is a racist group,

an Islamophobic group, a group that is linked to neo-Nazis.

So what do Sicilian think of Lorenzo and his friends,

their movement and views?

I wanted to see him in action.

Lorenzo sees the chance for a bit of PR and tells the man

about blocking the NGO ship.

But it is not just ordinary Sicilians who feel their

voices need to be heard.

Across Italy you see scenes like this.

Nigerian woman forced into prostitution.

It is thought that a staggering 80% of Nigerian woman who come

to Europe are trafficked.

Three years ago, 1,500 Nigerian woman arrived in Italy.

Last year it was more than 11,000.

I went to meet some who were lucky enough to be rescued.

Jennifer and Anna, not their real names, told me their stories began

in Nigeria where they were offered work as baby-sitters

and hairdressers in Europe.

They agreed, but on the drive through the desert towards Libya

things started to go badly wrong.

When you got to Libya, that is when you realised

they wanted you to do prostitution?

That was when the girls were taken to what is known

as "the Carnation House."

And how many other girls were there with you in that space?

Were you talking to each other?

Yes.

What were you saying?

But once they arrive in Europe, many find they cannot escape.

They still have to repay a debt to the traffickers

and the debts are huge - up to 40,000 euros.

So they remain in virtual slavery.

It really is quite difficult for these girls to now go back home.

They have no ID and they are effectively stateless.

For many of them, they have made such a tough journey coming

here that they do not want to go back, they see their

future here in Europe.

Lorenzo has hired a room in an upmarket hotel

for the Defend Europe launch, but there are complications.

Plainclothes policemen have turned up and are keen

to make their presence felt.

They question Lorenzo, suspecting someone in the town's

port might be passing information on migrant shipping.

Our safety, our way of life, we have become a minority

in our own country.

Perfect.

Does that mean that you will keep trying to stop the boats?

Of course, we are ready to face our problems,

these kinds of problems.

Even today you were approached by police, they are watching you.

Yeah, I know.

But we have our channels to keep these kind of things secret.

The website, the Internet, is a gift.

We can talk there and organise these kind of things

in almost total freedom, and this will help us a lot.

It is estimated that this year a quarter of a million migrants

will make the perilous journey from Libya to Italy.

Several thousand will drown on the way.

While this crisis continues, so too will criticism

of the humanitarian effort and the message of intolerance.

And a solution?

No end in sight.