Lampedusa. The island of hope.

LAMPEDUSA | ITALY | 2016
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Lampedusa, not very eight square miles of Italian territory in the Mediterranean then has become known to the world. For years, its sparkling waters and postcard the island is conveniently closer to Africa than Europe – around 70 miles from the Tunisian coast and further south from Malta. In recent years, Lampedusa has become a key place for landings coming from the Libyan coasts, a place of hope for many people. In 2016 I went to Lampedusa to see with my eyes what was happening. Through the appearance of refugees on the island, their stories, I experienced the same pain, sense of loss and sense of uncertainty experienced by me 20 years ago, when, like them, I escaped from Albania.
In this photo reportage I tried to tell through the images, their fears but also the courage, the hope and above all the desire for a better life. 

Linda Vukaj Riccomini
May 2016