A 25-year-old Nigerian man identified as Prince Jerry
killed himself in Italy after authorities denied him a residence permit.
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Jerry's funeral was held Friday morning, at the Chiesa dell'Annunziata in Genoa.�
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Prince Jerry was a chemistry graduate and was continuing
his studies at a University having arrived from Libya on a boat two and
a half years ago.�
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In mid-January his appeal to stay in the country was
rejected and he ?fell into a deep depression?, according to sources
close to Jerry, who was staying in Tortona in Piedmont at the time of
his death.
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Italian authorities have been denying residence permits
in their hundreds and have started removing migrants from centres as the
government?s hardline immigration measures kick in.�
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Approved in December, the Salvini decree ? named after
Matteo Salvini, the interior minister and leader of the far-right League
? abolishes humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee
status.
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?After discovering he couldn?t even count on the
humanitarian permission that was cancelled by the recent decree, one of
our boys took his own life,? said Fr Giacomo Di Martino of the charity
Migrantes.
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Fr Alex Zanotelli, a member of the Comboni missionaries
in Verona, described Jerry?s death as ?a state murder, the bitter fruit
of the Salvini decree, which besides insecurity produces deaths?.
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?Many of the migrants and refugees we treat in our
projects have already passed through traumatic experiences in their
journey, in many cases with episodes of violence and torture in Libya,?
Lilian Pizzi, a psychologist with M�decins Sans Fronti�res in Rome, told
the Guardian.
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?When they arrive in Europe they are often retraumatised
by arbitrary policies that reduce their rights and by an atmosphere of
hate and racism amplified by the media. And all this exacerbates a sense
of powerlessness and exclusion.?
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More photos below...
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