With European authorities failing to provide adequate answers to the refugee crisis, non-governmental organizations and civil society movements have stepped in to welcome refugees.
In Italy, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) and the Community of Sant'Egidio have joined forces in a momentous project: the opening of humanitarian corridors guaranteeing safe travel to Europe and the granting of protection to those in need.
The Italian Ministry of
Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have indeed been persuaded in granting
the issuance of special visas to 1,000 asylum seekers - identified by specific
humanitarian desks operating in Morocco, Lebanon and Ethiopia - but the
operation will be entirely managed and financed by FCEI and Community of
Sant'Egidio.
100 stories of hope
The project officially kicked off at the beginning of January, with the arrival of the first Syrian family: a young couple - Yasmine and Suleyman - who, together with their daughter Falak and their son Hussein, escaped from war-torn Homs a couple years ago and have been living in precarious conditions in Lebanon ever since.
The procedures for their arrival were fast-tracked as the little Falak has a rare eye cancer that needed urgent treatment. They were welcomed by FCEI and Sant'Egidio staff and are now happily resettling in Rome, with the little Falak bravely keeping a smile on even during her chemotherapy treatments.
Then, on the last day of February, a very special Alitalia plane - which the Italian airline organized free of charge - carrying 24 Syrian families for a total of 93 persons (including 41 minors) landed at Rome Fiumicino airport. Among them, there is also Dia, an 8-year old Syrian boy who lost one leg during Homs bombings.
A drop in the ocean
After receiving a warm welcome at the airport, the asylum seekers were accommodated in dedicated centers all over Italy, from Rome to Trento. The FCEI and Sant'Egidio staff have been working on organizing their reception for months now and are confident that they will receive all the protection and assistance they need to resettle and integrate in their new homes.
Compared to the one million migrants who have arrived in Europe this year, one thousand visas may seem like a drop in the ocean - but at the moment this is the only hope of safe and legal passage to Italy for people escaping from war.
