Deaths at the Borders. From Institutional Carelessness to Private Concern. Research Notes from Italy

none3siOn 12th of May 2015 the VU University of Amsterdam published the Deaths at the Borders Database, an evidence-base of information retrieved from the death records of migrants who died attempting to cross the EU’s southern borders to Greece, Italy, Malta, Gibraltar and Spain, and whose bodies were found and processed by the authorities of these countries, between 1990 and 2013.1 From this research it emerged that two thirds of deceased migrants were classified as unidentified and that the identification rate varied greatly depending on both place and time factors. In Italy, more specifically, data collection involved searching through documents issued within the death management system of Italian coastal towns, which have been receiving migrants by sea for the last 25 years, in Apulia, Sardinia, Sicily and Calabria. The retrieval of an unidentified body begins a series of procedures involving various local authorities, and produces a considerable about of paperwork. In Italy, alongside the official procedures that must be implemented throughout the nation, there are many procedures imposed at the regional, provincial and local levels. This creates differences from place to place, leaving identification of deceased migrants to chance, dependent on the individual abilities and competences of the local authorities in the exact place where their body is found or brought from the sea. This article offers a broad picture of the Italian death management system in this regard, paying close attention to the effects and consequences of a non-standardized identification process, which has proven to be ineffective in many places where migrants bodies are found, and thereby incapable of guaranteeing the dignity of the deceased and their families. Compensations for this ineffective system are made by members of the local communities, by guardians of cemeteries, and by mayors, who do what they can to offer religious rites and burial ceremonies that (attempt, at least) to restore the memories of these too-easily forgotten dead.openAmelie Tapella, Giorgia Mirto ,Tamara LastAmelie Tapella, Giorgia Mirto ,Tamara Las