When Francesc Mateu i Hosta asked himself where the baby Jesus would have been born in 2024, he had too many options: Sudan, Ukraine or Myanmar; or, like previous years, Jesus could have been born in Gaza, or as the son of two homeless people, of a “kelly”, in the middle of an eviction or on the fence of Melilla. This year, the activist and former director of Oxfam Intermón in Catalonia leaned towards the detention centers for migrants built by Italy in Albania, because, he says, “this Europe that increasingly looks towards the extreme right, must remember that human beings, Wherever they come from, they are human beings and it is essential to treat them as such.”
In 2024, the European Union has opened up to replicating the controversial experiment of the ultra Government of Giorgia Meloni to send migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to identification and repatriation centers on Albanian soil. However, Meloni’s initiative has failed, with judicial setbacks that have prevented the prime minister from getting her way. Meloni assures that he will “continue to move forward” with his plan, which has unleashed a shower of criticism from legal experts in immigration and asylum and specialized associations and also a lot of suspicion about the costs of the measure.
In 2024, in the traditional manger with Playmobil dolls by Mateu i Hosta, Jesus is born on the way to one of these centers. “It cannot be that these things happen in Europe,” says the activist. In his opinion, “the best Christmas gift” would be to be able to contribute with his nativity scene to prevent “inhumane and unfair initiatives” like this from being repeated.
In their recreation, Joseph and Mary embody the thousands of people who risk everything for a better future. “They have decided to embark on a boat to reach Europe. They are expecting a child, but they know that there is no future in their country. In the middle of the sea, his boat loses its engine. When they had already lost hope, they were rescued by a ship that took them to Italy, but upon arrival they were detained and locked up in a detention center,” says the text of the story with which the former aid worker always accompanies his cribs.
After days in the center, he continues, “they are informed that they will be transferred to Albania, the first time that Italy has taken this measure. José and María fear what might happen. María, pregnant, begins to feel bad, but the authorities ignore her condition and force them to board.”
During the journey to Albania, María goes into labor. A woman with experience in childbirth assists her. “The trip, which should have been hell, flies by with the commotion of birth. Upon arrival, they wrap the child in a towel and place them on a dry pallet. “The creature is already crying.”
“Once on land they are taken to a recognition center. There, the health services certify what has just happened and decide to inform the authorities not to accept the entry of those extradited because the conditions established for this are not met. The Albanian authorities confirm the information and return almost the entire group to Italy. The press barely mentions the return,” the letter says.
Upon disembarking “they were released to avoid more scandals.” “They all decide that the child will be called Jesus – which means ‘the savior’ – because he has saved them from extradition. The policeman’s family, who had tried to prevent them from boarding and extraditing upon their departure, welcomes them in their home until their mother recovers.”
According to the Mateu i Hosta nativity scene, “on January 6, A judge has declared illegal the mechanism of extraditing to centers abroad”, a decision that the aid worker recalls that “has already happened in the United Kingdom”, referring to the intention of the British Government to deport migrants to Rwanda, stopped by the Court European Human Rights.
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