The last three survivors of Selinunte, the social worker from Castelvetrano speaks: “They were frightened, barefoot, and hungry”
“When they arrived, we were in the office. One of the guests at the facility alerted us that there were three boys in the courtyard asking for help. So we went out and welcomed them,” says Antonella Patellaro, a 31-year-old social worker at the Cpa Selinus in Castelvetrano, a center that opened last June to accommodate unaccompanied migrant minors. This morning, three boys who landed on the beach of Marinella di Selinunte on Friday night showed up at the center. “They must have been around 16 years old,” Antonella Patellaro recounts. “They were disoriented, scared, and they told us how they got here. When we saw them, we immediately noticed that they had just arrived. They were wearing tracksuits and were barefoot, although one of them had a pair of tennis shoes in his hand and the other two had slippers. They immediately asked for water and food, so we sat them down and gave them croissants, sweets, and water, while calling the police.” The three boys, speaking in Arabic, explained that their boat had sunk on Friday night, they had seen the bodies of their fellow travelers on the beach (“their faces immediately turned sad”), and they had wandered for two days in an unfamiliar territory, covering dozens of kilometers with no money or cell phones. “They told us that they had walked to Campobello di Mazara first, and then some Tunisian people they met there advised them to go to Castelvetrano, where there are centers for minors like ours,” says Antonella Patellaro. “We want to come back here,” they told us as they were getting into the car of the Italian Red Cross, which took them to the identification center in Contrada Milo in Trapani. “A smile appeared on their faces, and we saw them leaving in a more peaceful state. We said goodbye with a heavy heart. Who knows if they will come back here in the allocation process, but we are ready to welcome them with joy,” Antonella Patellaro concludes.
Gli ultimi tre superstiti di Selinunte, parla l’assistente sociale di Castelvetrano: «Erano impauriti, scalzi e digiuni»
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