In the recent history of immigration in Italy, the arrival of Albanians in early March 1991 on barges and merchant ships to the coasts of Apulia remains one of the most significant episodes. That year, thousands of people disembarked at the port of Brindisi, taking the city and the entire country by surprise. In a joint appearance with Giorgia Meloni on November 6, 2023, in Rome, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, referred to that massive exodus to justify the agreement he had just signed with the Italian Prime Minister for the construction in Albanian territory of two identification and deportation centers for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by Italian authorities. In Rama’s own words: “I do not think we can repay the debt to Italy, to the Italian people, and to the Italian institutions for what they did for us from the very first day we arrived on their shores seeking refuge from hell, to be able to imagine a better life. This debt cannot be repaid. If Italy calls, Albania is there” (Italian Government, 2023).
For experts on the subject, it is ironic that Albania’s way of thanking Italy for hosting its citizens fleeing the country more than three decades ago is by helping Italy expel people arriving now on its coasts. A historical paradox, as Sara Prestianni, migration expert and Advocacy Director of the human rights organization EuroMed Rights, defines the agreement in an interview with Eldiario.es (Paone, 2023). At the time, various NGOs and associations spoke out against the agreement, pointing out its ambiguities regarding human rights violations.
Starting from this point, this professional-type Bachelor’s Thesis aims to develop a multimedia report on the integration of people arriving in Italy through various migratory routes from Africa. The report situates individual narratives within a political context of strong anti-migration sentiment. It seeks to highlight the contrast between the recent agreement signed by the Italian and Albanian governments to deport migrants who reach the shores of Lampedusa and the human stories behind the migration process.
Through the stories of Ousman Manjang, D’Arila N’Guessan, Rachid Abdoul Barra, and Kaba Balde, the report explores the experiences of those who have found ways to coexist and collaborate with the closest community, even in contexts marked by scarce resources and uncertainty. These personal stories capture the richness of human dynamics generated at this crossroads, reflecting both the challenges and opportunities posed by migration.
The report aims to showcase positive examples of integration and solidarity that are often overshadowed by narratives focused on conflict and rejection. It draws inspiration from other journalistic works that move away from the catastrophic and sensationalist view often used to cover these topics and seeks to show how bonds between migrants and locals are not only possible but can contribute to the human and social development of a community. This interest in offering a perspective on migration that fosters a more empathetic view of concrete everyday realities aligns with the principles of solutions journalism, a recent trend in journalism derived from slow journalism (Benaissa, 2024). It is an international movement that aims to counter the negative-focused reporting of many media outlets (Casares, 2021) by incorporating alternative, constructive approaches centered on offering solutions to social problems (Nielsen, 2023). Following this logic, the report focuses on presenting an optimistic view of the opportunities that migrant integration can offer as an alternative to the dominant narratives of rejection and hatred in certain sectors of politics and society. As honestly as possible, this report seeks to counter dramatic and paternalistic discourses with narratives that allow space for hope, without resorting to utopian fantasies or simplistic solutions, showing migration in all its complexity.
At the time of preparing this Bachelor’s Thesis, the author was on an Erasmus program in Lecce, Italy, for the entire academic year. Lecce is a city in the Apulia region, which witnessed the arrival of thousands of migrants from different parts of the world. From the mass arrival of Albanians via the Balkan route more than three decades ago to people arriving in Lampedusa through various African routes and being transferred to this region, Lecce is now clearly a multiethnic city. It was this visible cultural crossroads in the urban landscape that prompted me to explore integration dynamics in the city through concrete life trajectories.
