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Inhuman Living Conditions and Seizures of Tents in Ventimiglia
Since the big eviction of the main camp under the bridge in Ventimiglia in September 2025 people on the move have been forced into even less comfortable living conditions. Many are now sleeping without tents because if they stay under the bridge the police will come and take their tent. There are also many people with drug and alcohol dependencies living outside with only blankets. Others sleep along the river bank in tents, but are told by police that they have to take down their tent every morning or it will be confiscated, or they are told to move because it is too dangerous close to the river with the changing water levels. “Where can I go? I go somewhere they tell me to move. I go somewhere else, they tell me again. I don’t get up early, they come take my tent.”
Ventimiglia Beach where the most recent seizure of tents took place
There have been multiple small evictions in the last couple of months, where the police come in large numbers – more than 10 police for 5 people on the move – and confiscate not only their tents, but their blankets and personal items too. There have been occasions that the police brought dogs with them too. It is inhumane. Just this morning people sleeping in tents on the beach had their tents and blankets seized by police, including a Palestinian man who has asylum in Italy but has not found accommodation. There is nowhere in Ventimiglia that offers accommodation to men travelling alone. Their options are extremely limited in the region. One of the men we meet every week who had until very recently been sleeping in a tent on the river bank, was one of the few lucky people to be granted accommodation in a shared accommodation facility in Imperia (40 minutes by train from Ventimiglia). We recently met him and he was in distress. He showed us videos of his mattress literally crawling with bedbugs and showed us the bites all over his arms and back. He said he can’t sleep and his whole body is itching. “Biggest mistake of my life going to this camp. I prefer to sleep outside. I am a clean person and this place is not clean.”
Others we meet weekly stay in a dormitory in Sanremo (20 minutes by train from Ventimiglia) but they can only stay inside from 8pm to 8am, and cannot keep their belongings there. On multiple occasions we have supplied them with new blankets because theirs are stolen. A common theme amongst the people we meet is the strong desire to work and support themselves but they are not allowed or they have to work irregularly without rights. people who are registered as seeking asylum can technically work “legally” but it is very difficult to find employment, with the barriers of language, xenophobia and racism, and also the general lack of jobs available locally.So much of their lives are spent waiting, waiting, waiting for someone else to make a decision about what their fate will be. This is why they will still travel to spend time with No Name Kitchen and other friends in Ventimiglia, even when staying 20-40 minutes away. They need something to occupy their minds and time. So the choices for accommodation are these: stay under the bridge and face harassment from police, sleep in a tent and face harassment from the police, sleep in a dormitory and have to pack your bags and walk around all day 12 hours a day, sleep in a government facility and get bed bugs. The situation in Ventimiglia is that people are often here for long periods. This isn’t a temporary problem to solve, it requires a long term solution.
Tent on the beach in Ventimiglia
overview
from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco, Palestine, Nigeria,
aged Between 23 and 55.