After rescue, a long, agonizing wait for migrants in Italy
MINEO, Sicily (AP) — Silla Zelia, a 23-year-old from Ivory Coast, is stuck in Italy's largest migrant center with nowhere to go after her asylum application was twice rejected and she lost contact with her family in Abidjan.
"One can get stuck here for two years, three years," she said from the former U.S. Navy housing complex in the heart of Sicily. "It's not easy."
After making the treacherous crossing to Italy, would-be refugees like Zelia face another grueling test trying to persuade skeptical European countries that they deserve asylum. But the coveted refugee status is normally reserved for those fleeing war and persecution, while many of the migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are running away from poverty.
Those rejected often remain in Italy as "irregulars," living on the fringes of society, said Flavio Di Giacomo of the International Organization for Migration.
"They will end up working in the fields, in the agricultural sector, picking up tomatoes, oranges," he said. ...
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