ROME, Italy, March 22 (UNHCR) – The picturesque Calabrian hilltop town of Riace on the sole of southern Italy seems to have a lot going for it; glorious weather, fields of fruit, mountain scenery, great food and the nearby Mediterranean.

Yet, in the 1970s and 1980s, people were leaving the region in droves and heading to northern Italy, other parts of Europe and even further afield, unable to earn a decent living back home. Riace was well on its way to becoming a ghost town. There were hardly any shops, the last bar had closed, nobody was working in the fields and there weren’t even enough children to fill the local school.

Fast forward to today and the town is thriving, its solid stone houses echoing with laughter and happy voices, its mediaeval streets busy with artists, traders and tourists. But many of Riace’s 1,700 inhabitants are not even from Italy.

Much of the credit for the turnaround in the fortunes of Riace goes to Domenico Lucano, who, working with UNHCR, has set an example of how integration can work in a country under fire for its tough immigration policies. Mayor Lucano came up with the brainwave of repopulating the town with irregular migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, the Lebanon and Somalia.

It’s a story that has enchanted German film director Wim Wenders, who has made a half-hour documentary drama about Riace shot in 3-D. The premiere of “Il Volo” (The Flight) was held in Rome on Friday with the support of UNHCR, whose regional representative, Laurens Jolles, attended. “The film portrays refugees and migrant workers in a much more positive light,” said one person who attended the screening.

Wenders, whose work includes the award-winning film “Paris, Texas” and the “Buena Vista Social Club” documentary, had first come to Reggio Calabria in September last year to film a short fictional story about migration in another nearby town, Badolato.

But he changed his mind after meeting some refugee children – three Roma brothers from Serbia and a nine-year-old Afghan boy called Ramadullah – who were living in Riace. Wenders decided to make something a bit longer, which would tell their story and that of the mayor and his vision for the town.

“I realized I was more attracted to the children’s stories than to the one I was shooting,” said Wenders, adding that real “people are always more important than fiction.” The result is a moving documentary drama that could help people to understand the reality of immigration and how foreigners can contribute to Italian society.

Lucano, the courageous mayor, recalled how the transformation of Riace began 12 years ago. “A boat carrying some 250 Kurds [men, women and children] was brought by the wind to our shores,” he said, referring to a boatload of people who had probably set off from North Africa in the hope of reaching Europe. “At the time, Riace was dying,” he added.

The Kurds had landed close to the spot where a scuba diver in 1972 discovered the so-called “Riace bronzes” – two exquisite full-size statues of bearded Greek warriors – and briefly put the area on the map. “The wind has brought us a special cargo, and who are we to turn it away,” Lucano thought at the time, reasoning that the refugees were simply following in the footsteps of Greeks, Arabs, Normans and other past visitors.

Lucano set up an association, Città Futura (City of the Future), which began offering migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers free board and lodging as well as electricity in Riace’s empty houses so long as they agreed to work for a living and learn Italian. “The Kurds [eventually] went to Germany, but left their mark,” Lucano noted. “Riace opened its doors to Eritreans, Ethiopians, Afghans and schools were able to reopen.”

The newcomers have been repaying the faith shown in them by helping to revive the fortunes of Riace. The women make handicrafts while their men are involved in construction and opening shops; both are helping to bring in the tourists, who can now stay in renovated town centre buildings.

Today, about 250 of Riace’s 1,700 citizens are foreigners. They include many Palestinian refugees resettled recently in Italy with the help of UNHCR after spending years living in dusty Al Tanf camp in the no-man’s land between Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, Laura Boldrini, UNHCR’s spokesperson in Italy, said the refugee agency was happy to support the example being set in Riace and other nearby towns. She also praised Wenders’ film, saying that Il Volo was “a tremendous tool for awareness-raising that upholds a model of cohabitation based on exchange and mutual interest, both for refugees and for the development of local communities.”

GENEVA – (AFP) Some 5,000 Eritreans from around Europe rallied on Monday in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva to protest against UN Security Council sanctions on Eritrea, police said.

The demonstrators waved Eritrean flags and carried banners such as “No to sanctions based on lies,” and “Eritrea will never go on its knees”.

The Security Council in December voted for an arms embargo and targeted sanctions against Eritrea, which has been accused of trying to destabilize the Western-backed government in neighbouring Somalia.

One of the organizers of the rally in Geneva, who declined to be named, told AFP that members of the Eritrean diaspora had travelled to the Swiss city from 14 European nations.

A spokesman from police in Geneva said about 5,000 people took part in the protest, which passed off peacefully.

Other demonstrations were staged in the Australian capital Canberra and in San Francisco, while the Eritrean community gathered in Saudi Arabia, according to an Eritrean government website.

Asmara has condemned the sanctions decision, which includes a travel ban on senior officials, as “a shameful day” for the United Nations.

The Security Council accused Eritrean leaders of aiding Somali rebels and pressed Asmara to withdraw troops immediately from disputed territories along its frontier with Djibouti. Source: (AFP)

Mesquel

Eritrea is among the first countries which embraced the great world religions Christianity and Islam. It is even assumed that there were Jewish communities in Eritrea long before Christianity was introduced and that is the reason why the Eritrean Orthodox church has many Judaic aspects like keeping the Sabbath, harboring copies of the Arc of Covenant (Tabot) and pork prohibition.

Both religions have influenced almost all aspects of life in Eritrea as in the rest of the world. They are binding forces of the society and have great roles in civilization. Education, literature, architecture, legislature and administration in Eritrea are strongly influenced by them.

Christmas, which is celebrated on the 7.of January is second to Easter, the most highly revered Christian holiday in Eritrea. It is commemorating the day God took a human form to abide among us and be as one of us. (Emmanuel = God is with us).

No Christmas trees or exchange of gifts were known on Christmas originally in Eritrea. At Christmas morning people go to church and celebrate the Divine Liturgy, listening to readings of Bible verses in the old Geez language and Jared choir songs (Qdassie) sung by the priests accompanied with rhythmic drum beats and cymbals in the orthodox and Geez Catholic churches. Later after prayers, people come together and enjoy a tasty religious meal and various types of local drinks.

Several days before Christmas there is much activity in the city markets, people buying and selling things for the feast. Especially a day or two ahead of Christmas the streets are crowded with people who want to buy; animals such as sheep, goat, cow or hen.

The market is buzzing with people chatting and doing last-minute grocery shopping for the holidays. People usually check an animal before purchasing to ensure it provides enough meat. There is no fixed price for the animals; hence, both buyers and sellers negotiate until they reach to what they think is a fair price. Making a deal is a long and funny process.

There is a special Eritrean custom that a group of people buy a cow or an ox, slaughter it and share the flesh, referred to as (Guzzi). This is a long tradition in Eritrea that shows the cohesion or cooperative nature of the society against individualism.

It may not be affordable or is a tedious job for one family to buy and carry a whole cow. Hence, the feasible way is to form a group, buy a cow and share it so that everybody can happily celebrate Christmas.

On the eve of Christmas fathers slaughter a sheep a goat or at least a hen. Most people prefer a sheep to a goat but some argue a goat is much cheaper and has much more meat. Mothers or daughters take the last steps of brewing Swa, homemade beer, bake Injera, a thin, flat spongy sour bread preferably made of Taff flour and cook Zgni, a hot meat stew. Green straw (Setti) is spread on the floor and maybe a soothing incense smoke fills the room. The whole event is very exciting and every family member contributes at some point during the whole process.

For small children in the country side slaughtering an animal is like losing an animal they knew like a family member or a friend, therefore it is an unhappy event even though it is a special occasion that had to be celebrated. For children living in the city it is exiting to see their parents bringing along a pet on the eve of Christmas. The next day when they see the animal slaughtered they tend to be not very amused. However, as the friendship only lasted one day their sorrow is not as deep as that of village children.

There is one extreme case, namely if a family happens to have guests from abroad. Diaspora children enjoy eating meat and meat products purchased in the supermarket almost every day and have little or no contact with live animals. Such children are extremely shocked to see animals slaughtered. They protest and try to stop the brutal event. Some refuse even to eat from the meat and swear to remain vegetarian for the rest of their lives.

At Christmas morning people go to church and celebrate the Divine Liturgy, listening to readings of Bible verses in the old Geez language and Jared choir songs (Qdassie) sung by the priests accompanied with rhythmic drum beats and cymbals in the orthodox and Geez Catholic churches.

Mothers or daughters take the last steps of brewing Swa, a home made beer, bake Injera, a thin, flat spongy sour bread preferably made of Taff flour and cook Zgni, a hot meat stew. Green straw (Setti) is spread on the floor and maybe a soothing incense smoke fills the room.

This whole combination spreads a special smell in the air which creates a festive atmosphere. Then the tasty meal is set on the table. Prayer is said by a father, the eldest or a senior member of the family and then everyone can spread his fingers and enjoy eating the delicious zgni with injera. One might overeat on this day even in poor families because as a rule there is abundant delicate food on the table.

Should there be a poor family in a village which can not afford to slaughter even a hen, then the ones who are blessed with abundance see it as their obligation even as an opportunity to get God’s blessing to help such a family. Coffee with Popcorn or Himbasha, homemade Eritrean bread is served after eating the meal.

It is not unusual to observe on the eve of Christmas people lining up before shops to buy Panettone and then carry it home in flocks. Being affordable almost for everybody, it seems at least in the cities that it is winning favor over the traditional bread Himbasha on Christmas day.

Rich families get usually a visit from guest musicians, playing Wata, who hope to earn some money. The musicians are usually offered a cup (Wantcha) or two of Swa or even a piece of Injera with Zgni and some Naqfas.

In the afternoon and evening adult males stroll through the city streets for meeting friends, taking fresh air or a walk that might help them digest the heavy meal. Many of them attired in their white Habesha costume, a long loosely worn shirt (Qemsh) and a fine cotton shall (Netzela) over strangely tailored trousers, which one might think they were made for horse riders (Gtr). Their final destination is a coffee house, Swa local or Myes local where they sip a beer, Swa, Myies (a liquor made from fermented honey) cappuccino or whatever they enjoy to drink.

Children usually get new clothes or shoes on Christmas. After enjoying their lunch they might play outside with other children boasting how fine their new clothes or shoes are.

Members of modern Evangelical churches and Catholics are more or less oriented to their mother churches in the west. They celebrate Christmas with decorated Christmas trees, candles, candies and Panettone, a delicious Italian cake. Their members exchange gifts as it is tradition in the west.

Celebrating Christmas with a Christmas tree and sharing gifts has become popular and widespread even among the orthodox Christians of Eritrea.