The first regional conference on immigration, organised by the Department of Labour, was held at the Archaeological Museum of Olbia .
"We Sardinians are a people of migrants ," began President Alessandra Todde in her greeting speech. "Great figures such as Antonio Gramsci, Gavino Ledda and Grazia Deledda were migrants, and in my own small way I was too , going to study and work in the United States and in many European countries."
Not only that: «In the post-war period – the president recalls – many Sardinian shepherds were in Central Italy , as demonstrated by the museum space dedicated to the Tenuta di Suvignano, in Monteroni d'Arbia, in the province of Siena, which I visited in March. And so, as Sardinians, how can we not understand what migrants who are fleeing war or poverty today are experiencing? Our empathy is natural . In recent decades , fear of the different has been instilled, but we can reason in the opposite way, knowing that immigration is an enrichment for our entire society, especially to combat depopulation».
On the island there are 55 thousand migrants who "are part of our community, they do jobs that many no longer want to do, their children are at school with ours" .
This conference is an opportunity, Todde said, "to listen to the many communities present on how to improve integration. We want to make Sardinia a platform in the Mediterranean of peace, inclusion, future, open to the world."
Councilor Desirè Manca addressed the many communities and associations present: "This is not our home, it is the home of all peoples: thank you from the bottom of our hearts for having responded in such large numbers to our invitation to these two days of listening. Olbia is an example of integration, a safe haven for those who have left their homeland. We want to reaffirm the value of diversity against all racism and intolerance . This is the first Conference held, it has never happened before, the Sardinia Region wants to strengthen the issue of immigration by recognizing its complexity".
