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Biased Italian Media Given Guidelines

Interview with Laura Boldrini, UNHCR / November 28, 2008

Cairo 28 November 2008 On 13 June 2008, more than 18 months after the Italian division of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) made the announcement, the so-called “Carta di Roma1” (the Rome Charter) was finally approved by the Association of the Italian Council of Journalists.

The document is a code of conduct regarding reporting of asylum and migration issues by Italian news media. It was drafted by the Journalists Association and the Italian National Press Federation (FSNI) in collaboration with the Italian division of UNHCR.

The aim of the Rome Charter is to provide Italian journalists with reporting guidelines, legal definitions and terminology, to ensure that information on asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and victims of human trafficking is balanced and accurate.

Most Italian news regarding migration issues focus on crime, terrorism, and national security. Migrants and asylum seekers often get a twisted and negative slant—to the extent that many migrant associations and NGOs accuse the press of alarmist and warlike language. Studies2 show this media attitude can lead to prejudice and racial hatred in public opinion which can be exploited to legitimise restrictive immigration policies.

The proposal for guidelines for journalists was advanced by the Italian division of UNHCR in January 2007, triggered by a shameful journalistic scandal that involved a Tunisian man wrongly accused of the atrocious murder of his Italian wife and two year old baby. Some Italian press swiftly blamed the husband, demonising him for days and pushing the stereotype of the “evil Arab immigrant”. In fact, the killers were two middle-aged Italian neighbours.

Although the issue of migration has been widely discussed in Italy over recent months, despite the newly approved ethical guidelines, attacks on foreigners continue to be reported in the press. On 14 September 2008 a young Italian from Burkina Faso, Abdul Salam Guibre, was beaten to death by Italians, a father and son, who accused him of stealing biscuits. Witnesses heard the killers shouting “dirty nigger” while they hit him with an iron bar. Even though the victim of this awful crime was an Italian citizen, the newspapers didn’t blame lack of “security” in the city and minimized the killing.

Other media bias is shown by the nonsensical debates about the “danger” caused by Muslim communities and mosques in Milan which monopolize newspaper columns for weeks under headings such as, “Security emergency in Milan” or “State of Alert for the month of Ramadan”. The horrendous execution of six “extracommunitarians” in CastelVolturno by the “Camorra” [Mafia in Naples] was quickly dispatched as “revenge” between criminal organizations who were said to be vying for the control of drug peddling. In fact, the victims were from Togo, Ghana and Liberia, and were factory workers in the area. Three of them had obtained humanitarian protection and the rest were asylum seekers or were awaiting permits to stay in Italy.

Unfortunately, the Rome Charter has yet to promote any real change. The EU, the UN and even the Vatican continue to publically express concern about increasing racism in Italy. However, the UN refugee agency believes that by establishing an independent monitoring centre which will observe media coverage of asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and victims of human traffic, journalists will use this code of ethics to reach a more correct use of language without prejudicing the right to information.

When the Rome Charter was finally approved by the FNSI (National Federation of Journalists), we asked Mrs Laura Boldrini, UNHCR’S Italian spokesperson, to explain the connection between the strict legal policies on immigration and the biased attitude of the Italian media regarding migrants in the Berlusconi government.

QUESTION: What are the main legal problems in Italy concerning asylum seekers, refugees and forced migrants in general? MRS. BOLDRINI: During the Prodi mandate, a few steps forward were made by new legislation which was in accordance with EU Directives For example, an asylum seeker who was denied refugee status or humanitarian protection must be allowed to stay in the country without risking forcible repatriation. Permission to stay in Italy for humanitarian protection could be renewed for a three year period instead of one. Refugees could renew for five years. But the new goverment on 25 July 2008 extended the eternal “state of emergency” because of the systematic landings on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa and restricted chances to appeal.3 [Causing even the word emergency to lose its meaning.]

Although the legal framework must be improved, the core of the problem remains integration and integration assistance. This is the long path that follows a dramatic entry into our country. The value of the law and the effectiveness of the rights loses significance if refugees communities are left isolated, if there are no efficient support measures, if there is not enough encouragement to learn Italian, and, especially, if there are no opportunities to work. The real impact of legislation depends on the integration process.

QUESTION: Is there a relationship of dependence between strict immigration policies and the way mainstream media deal with such an issue? MRS. BOLDRINI Ten years after the the “phenomenon” of migration to Italy that began with the Albanian refugee crisis and was followed by the African migration, a report is overdue. The major aspects of what happened during these years have been progressively and systematically undervalued and simplified by all parts of the press.

Any analytic approach is missing or the facts have been presented in a spontaneous and almost accidental manner, as though they were mere chronicled cases. Entire political careers have been built on the exploitation of this “immigration issue”. The majority of the media has focused on “sensational” aspects such as the dramatic shorelandings in Lampedusa which were depicted as a sort of invasion of our territory. The coverage gave the public a limited and partial view of an extremely complex topic. In general, mainstream media omit the most important consequences of this phenomenon: the socio-cultural aspects which lead to the change in our global society.

Italians are used to constant alarming news reports with information based on fear and scaremongering This portrait of Italy as a violent and insecure country because of the immigrants is totally unlike reality, especially concerning rape. There is no excuse for headlines such as “Sexual Assault Emergency” referring to supposedly violent immigrants, since they represent a small portion of the total number of assaults. The media never reports that every day thirteen women are raped in Italy and that 90% are raped by someone familiar. THIS is the real story. Despite this, the “average Italian” believes in the stereotype of a criminal immigrant who rapes “our women.”

When a drunk Romanian Gipsy rode down and killed five people, the so-called “piazza” [a part of the public opinion] strongly demanded the death penalty for the murderer, and the news filled front pages for days. A few months later, by contrast, an Italian citizen, driving drunk, killed two Irish tourists. He was put under house arrest. This provoked no public indignation because the story didn’t get the same media attention. Examples such as these show why a journalistic code of conduct is so important.

QUESTION: The way in which mainstream media deals with dramatic topics such as the Iraqi crisis is emblematic of its superficial attitude towards forced migration. The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is now into its fifth year. Nevertheless, the issue has no attention in the media except to report on suicide attacks or terrorism. Is there any way that UNHCR can push Italian media to be more accurate and balanced in dealing with migration and related issues?

MRS. BOLDRINI: In the past five years, the Italian division of UNHCR has disseminated information about the humanitarian consequences of the Iraqi crisis. Last year we organized a trip to Syria with a group of Italian journalists in order to deepen interest in the problem and to raise awareness of the conflicts regarding the neighbouring countries. After this initiative, a small portion of the press started to pay attention to the issue. Now part of the public can learn how serious is the situation for Iraqi refugees.

QUESTION: Even Egypt, despite its internal problems [the World Food Programme of the United Nations claims that 20% of the population, 14.2 million people, live on less than 80 cents per day] has been forced to face flows of immigration coming from Palestine, Iraq, Sudan (Darfur), Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. What constitutes the point where we can says there is a “humanitarian emergency” in Egypt?

MRS. BOLDRINI: Humanitarian crises always have a heavy impact on neighbouring countries because they are forced to face the possible acceptance of escaping populations and because they find themselves obliged to deal with internal conflicts. It is crucial to emphasize that the majority of refugee stick close to their country of origin. It is not true that all of them wish to reach Europe.

The humanitarian crisis that is far beyond its breakdown point is Iraq. It can be considered one cause of Egypt’s problems—and of course not Egypt alone. We are speaking about a crisis that has caused the greatest mass displacement in the Middle East since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. For years we have been trying to break the media “wall of indifference”, but unfortunately, the attitude of Italian media hasn’t changed.

QUESTION: What is the situation of Iraqi refugees in Italy? MRS. BOLDRINI: Iraqi refugees in Italy are few. Those who reach our territory through Libya and the Mediterranean Sea, or from Greece, usually do not apply for asylum because they would be forced to stay in Italy as the “country of arrival” in accordance with the Dublin Convention.4 These people are ready to pay smugglers to get to Sweden because they know that Sweden is a country that actually facilitates integration and assistence.

Spain is the only European country that permits asylum application from its embassies. More than 90% of the 1,600 Iraqi refugees in Spain applied from the Spanish embassy in Egypt.

QUESTION: Italy is a natural transit territory for many waves of forced and illegal migration from Africa and the East. In the majority of cases, the routes to Italy by land or by sea, are not chosen by migrants as “the favourite” route to Europe. Rather, Italy is the only and the shortest route. Immigrants believe that human and civil rights are more respected in Italy than in other countries. Nevertheless, the strict policies of “Fortress Europe” and the complexity and laxness of Italian justice do not facilitate life to people in search of refuge. Is this legal complexity leading forced migrants to pursue illegal ways?

MRS. BOLDRINI: The Dublin Convention is needed for security and uniformity reasons in the European Union, but the common criteria in it implies common standards, at least judical. Greek and Swedish standards are not comparable..

Taking Iraqis as an example. Everything has become more difficult for them after reports on irregular Iraqi passports began to circulate among European embassies. Priority is always given to European security, so many Iraqis have been forced to remain in Baghdad, despite high risks.

A couple of years ago in Crotone’s detention centre in Calabria, I met a Somali woman, mother of five children, one of them disabled, who had arrived in Italy on a boat. A year later, I met her again in the same detention centre. She told me that she had managed to reach Norway where her family could benefit from a special assistence: public school, a house and a job to sustain herself and the children in autonomy. But when the police discovered that she had firstly arrived in Lampedusa, they had to send her back to Crotone’s detention centre, according to the Dublin Convention. This is horrible for a human being: it means being uprooted twice. But unfortunately these are the consecuences of a principle created to harmonize the European system.

QUESTION: Is resettlement a hope for the Iraqi people as for other groups of refugees?

MRS. BOLDRINI: Regrettably, there are not many countries able to undertake resettlement. In any case, resettlement cannot be the solution for 33 million people, 4.5 million of them Iraqis who have been forced to leave their homes because of war and persecution. The United States offered resettlement quotas, but until now, only 6,000 individuals or families have been accepted out of 11,000 applicants. Despite the US initiative, it is a temporary and insufficient solution. There is a growing need to gain interest for Iraq at an international level. Rarely do the media put together the words “armed conflict” and “humanitarian crisis” as dependent clauses. It is easier to focus on the “sensational” effect.

QUESTION: Is it likely that the Rome Charter will encourage Italian media to do more in-depth reporting on the Iraqi forced migration and humanitarian crisis?

MRS. BOLDRINI: Let’s hope the media begin to use appropriate terminology without insinuating prejudice towards migrants and refugees. At least.