An African-born doctor photographed by the press while saving the
life of an Italian man with the slogan: "The typical migrant in the
news?" is the subject of a new sensitization campaign launched this
week by IOM in Italy targeting public and media alike.

Produced in cooperation with the advertising agency Publicis,
the campaign aims to overturn a common perception that migrants are
often criminals.

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"Polls in Italy show that migrants are increasingly being
perceived negatively, mainly because they are often reported in the
media in stories about crime and criminal activities. By focusing
migrants' public representation to this impedes not just effective
integration but also mutual knowledge and respect between migrants
and the host community. It also perpetuates discrimination and
xenophobia," says IOM's Regional Representative for the
Mediterranean, Peter Schatzer. "This is an issue of great concern
to IOM and we feel the public's attention should be drawn to the
key and positive role that migrants actually have on the Italian
economy and society."

Kyenge Kashetu, a doctor of Congolese origins working in Italy
for several years, features in the campaign. Part of African
diaspora organizations in northern Italy, she is a keen supporter
of the aims of the campaign.

"She represents the silent majority of migrants who work hard
and who contribute enormously to Italy's development. This is the
real news about migration that everybody should know," says
Schatzer.

The production of the campaign has seen the proactive
cooperation of many volunteers – photographers, actors and
crew – who spontaneously decided to work together with the
Publicis Agency on a pro bono basis.

"We decided to work with IOM on this initiative because
migration at this moment is a very delicate and sensitive issue. We
wanted to find a way to contribute to improving the perception of
migrant communities in Italy," says Patrizio Marini, Creative
Director of the Publicis bureau in Rome.

Already published by several newspapers, the campaign will
feature in national and local media in Italy and can also be
downloaded from IOM Rome's website, "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.italy.iom.int"
target="_blank" title="">www.italy.iom.int.

For further information, please contact:

Flavio Di Giacomo

IOM Rome

Tel: + 39 06 44 186 207

E-mail: "mailto:fdigiacomo@iom.int">fdigiacomo@iom.int