Cesar Dezfuli

Malick Jeng, 19, left Banjul, capital of Gambia, on March 14th 2016. Desperate by the political situation of his country, he decided to start a journey to Europe, dreaming to go to the University, to work and to be able to help his family economically. But he would have never imagined the risk he would face along the journey, as crossing the desert of Mali inside of a petrol tank and almost die asphyxiated, or being kidnaped in a 'Libyan jail', from which he could escape thanks to the payment of his family.

Finally, on the night of August 1st, he was transferred by the smugglers to a beach near Tripoli, from where he departed to Europe in a boat with 120 people on board. On the morning of August 2nd, six hours after their departure and only 20 nautical miles far from the Lybian coast, the rescue vessel Iuventa, from the NGO Jugend Rettet, rescued them.

First, Malick was sent to Catania, Sicilia, were he stayed for one week in a so-called hotspot, the first reception center after their arrival. Then, he was transferred to Biella, city in the north of Italy, where he lives since then in a temporary reception center for migrants called Hotel Colibri. It´s an old hotel that was closed for over ten years, affected by the economical crisis, and reopened in August 2016 as a temporary reception center. The company that opened it receives from the Italian State thirty five euros per migrant and day to manage it. There, Malick and the other migrants receive a basis needs coverage, three meals per day, bed as well as seventy five euros on cash per month. And all they do is to wait for an answer to their asylum request, that will probably take months or even years to come. 

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