Protect People Not Borders: Lampedusa 2024

From September 30 to October 3, 2024, the four-day event associated with the Protect People Not Borders project, organized by the Comitato 3 Ottobre, will take place on the island of Lampedusa. The event will conclude on October 3, 2024, with the commemorations of the Giornata della Memoria e dell'Accoglienza (Day of Remembrance and Welcome). The main goal of Protect People Not Borders is to keep alive the memory of the over 30,000 people who have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe since 2013.

During the four days of workshops, debates, roundtables, testimonies, performances, and commemorations, there will be discussions about stories from the borders, what happens to those who try to cross them, and how Europe is changing.

The Protect People Not Borders project, supported by 8x1000 Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai, is aimed at high school students from across Europe. Over 300 students and teachers from various European Union countries will participate in the Lampedusa events. Guests and facilitators of the debates, workshops, and testimonies will include shipwreck survivors, relatives of the victims, representatives from NGOs and UN agencies, journalists, artists, and representatives from Italian and European institutions.

All events will be broadcast live on the Facebook and Instagram pages of the Comitato 3 ottobre.

Why Protect People Not Borders?

For us at the Comitato 3 Ottobre, the answer leaves little room for uncertainty: for a long time – and now with increasing intensity – Italy’s migration policy, in line with other countries, has seen the predominance of a security-focused dimension. The underlying idea supporting this approach is that migrations primarily constitute a public order emergency to be addressed with exceptional measures. This is a simplified interpretation of reality that neglects – or worse, removes – both the epochal dimension of the phenomenon and the multitude of its causes. CLICK HERE to delve into the topics we will discuss in Lampedusa from September 30 to October 3, 2024.

A preliminary version of the program of events and guest list for September 30 to October 3 will be available on this page in the coming days. For further updates, follow the Comitato 3 Ottobre on Facebook and Instagram.