Tarsia International Cemetery

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The International Cemetery of Tarsia is a resting place for people who died while fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea . Tarsia is a place with around 2,000 inhabitants in the Italian region of Calabria .

Project

An international cemetery is being built near the town for refugees who have died while crossing the Mediterranean. The dead should be buried on an area of ​​one hectare. The cemetery is to be named after the Syrian refugee child Alan Kurdi .

The human rights activist and vocational school teacher Franco Corbelli (* 1957) was particularly committed to the project. After the serious accident off Lampedusa on October 3, 2013 , in which almost 400 boat refugees from Eritrea and Somalia were killed, he took the initiative as president of the NGO Diritti Civili . The dead were given numbers at that time and buried in the local cemeteries. Much of the dead cannot be identified, so it is important to give loved ones at least a place to commemorate their dead.

Corbelli said of the cemetery: "We must keep the memory of their existence alive and create a place where we can commemorate the incredible tragedy that is currently taking place on our doorstep."

The mayor of Tarsia, Roberto Ameruso, pointed out that the town's residents had demonstrated against the handling of Jewish prisoners in the nearby fascist internment camp. “We all grew up here with this story. We have humanity and solidarity in our genes, so to speak, ”he said, and now it is time to prove it again.

Place and implementation

The site of the cemetery is near the former fascist internment camp Ferramonti di Tarsia . Jews and members of the opposition were held in the camp from 1940 until the liberation by English troops in 1943. Including the 494 survivors of the refugee ship Pentcho .

The cemetery will be built on a hill at the foot of the town center, next to the old cemetery of Tarsia. In the old cemetery, Jewish camp inmates were buried next to Catholic locals. Boat refugees and locals are also to be buried side by side in the new cemetery.

The facility will initially cover 10,000 square meters. Up to 2000 migrants could then be buried. Due to the current ongoing tragedy, the possibility of expanding the cemetery is also expected. The property is about 3 hectares in total.

carrier

The cemetery is a joint project of the municipality of Tarsia , the region of Calabria and the human rights organization Movimento Diritti civili .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrea Spalinger: A cemetery for drowned migrants: A small Calabrian community sets an example . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 10, 2016, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed October 25, 2016]).
  2. ^ Rudolf Stumberger: Solidarity from Tradition . Jüdische Allgemeine, November 9, 2017, accessed July 22, 2018
  3. ↑ Italy plans a cemetery for refugees drowned at sea. In: www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .
  4. ^ First cemetery for Mediterranean refugees in southern Italy | domradio.de. In: www.domradio.de. Retrieved October 25, 2016 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 37 ′ 15 ″  N , 16 ° 16 ′ 19 ″  E