What’s at stake when you enter a state housing system as an asylum seeker? In The Netherlands, there is a roof over your head, food on the table, and in this Middelburg location, a spacious game room and lounge where you can watch TV, play video games or share coffee with a friend. There is safety and even comfort here. So why are so many of the people living inside facing mental health crises?––of depression and even suicide. MotM has reported from the Middelburg, Netherlands COA housing camp over the course of 2021 with great esteem for its operations. We have walked away every time with a sense of warmth, solidarity and total transparency from the people inside working to keep the complex going, in spite of paralyzing limitations. There are missing mental health resources, and that’s what we talk about in this episode today. It was our last report from Middelburg in 2021, recorded in early November 2021.

Hear MotM’s Lead Correspondent, Pamela Kerpius, in conversation with Abraham (Nigeria), Abdul Mohammed Ali (Somalia), Anas (Ghana) and Mohammed (Syria) in this episode, the last of the year and our most urgent to date. Thank you for standing with us this year to keep sharing these hidden stories in the migrant community––for supporting our friends whose voices you hear here today. Donate what you can to our 3rd Annual Holiday Fundraiser to help keep this storytelling alive in 2022. So much is at stake. Thank you for standing with us!

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Please meet more of those from the rescue community. Miguel Duarte worked aboard the Iuventa through the now-defunct German sea rescue operation Jugend Rettet from 2016-2017 on four missions. On his final mission, the Iuventa came to port and was immediately seized by Italian authorities who falsely claimed he and his shipmates had participated in aiding human trafficking, among other unfounded charges. It is part of the narrative to criminalize NGO rescue ships, which are seen as acting against the political interests of Italy and the EU, and leaving thousands of lives in the Central Mediterranean hanging in the balance. Miguel's important testimony will move you.

You've met many people over the years who were rescued at sea. But what about the people who rescued them? Who are they, and what was their role in this arc of migration history? Today we take a departure from our usual interviews with people in the migrant community to meet one of those rescuers, Francesco Tripoli. Francesco worked aboard the Sea Watch 2 and Sea Watch 3 ships from 2017-2018 on five different missions. Hear his testimony about what it was like, and the gratitude he has for the people who were onboard with him. With a special guest appearance from his rooster crowing on his farm in Portugal, where he spoke to Open Encounters in late February 2021 in New York City.

Read Alagie's original Journey Story, recorded in Lampedusa, Sicily, one day after his rescue at sea in November 2016.

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Hear Part I of his conversation with Open Encounters on "Lockdown, Labor & Life."

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"You have to fight for what you like...Try, even if they tell you it's not possible for you, leave them. Don't argue. Keep fighting. Fight in a positive way," said Bapa (Sierra Leone) from his home in Passau, Germany. As lockdowns keep lifting and we continue to make calls to our friends in the migrant community in Italy, Germany, and in Belgium. When Bapa arrived in Italy before crossing to Germany in 2016, he had a dream for his life. And even though the reality is different than what he first imagined, he continues with resiliency and a lot of heart. Tune in to Part II of our conversation, on racism, tomorrow.

Hear Babou's original episode on the Open Encounters podcast from 2019, and his episode from Covid-19 lockdown.

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Hear his first episode with Open Encounters last month from Covid-19 lockdown.

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And hear his original episode with Open Encounters from 2019.

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Hear Richard talk about migrant labor in Italy, about his Covid-19 lockdown experience, and his original episode for Open Encounters in 2019.

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Read Mahamed's original journey story on the site, recorded in November 2018 (e in italiano).

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