REFUGEES, 46 SYRIANS, ARRIVE FROM LEBANON THANKS TO THE HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS OF SANT’EGIDIO AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES

46 Syrian refugees, including some minors, who have been living for a long time in refugee camps in the Akkar region, in the Bekaa Valley and in precarious accommodation on the outskirts of Beirut, landed this morning at Fiumicino airport on a flight from Beirut.

Their arrival in Italy – at a very difficult time for Lebanon due to the neighbouring Israeli-Palestinian conflict – was made possible thanks to the Humanitarian Corridors promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy and the Waldensian Table, in agreement with the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs, which since February 2016 have brought 2,700 people to safety in Italy from this country alone. In total, more than 6,500 refugees have arrived in Europe with the Humanitarian Corridors.

The families who arrived this morning will be welcomed in 7 Italian regions (Lazio, Sicily, Calabria, Piedmont, Veneto, Campania, and Tuscany), partly thanks to their relatives, who had previously arrived with the Humanitarian Corridors and are now well-integrated in our country, and partly in houses made available by Italian families and associations. The latter will accompany them along the path of integration, through learning the Italian language and, once refugee status has been obtained, integration into the world of work.

The humanitarian corridors, entirely self-financed, are a civil society initiative that reveals how it is possible to combine salvation from sea voyages – and therefore from human traffickers – with reception and integration. An internationally recognised best practice that can become a model for the entire European Union. These times, marked by the multiplication of wars, are a concrete response for vulnerable individuals and families, who have the right to be protected and to whom life and hope for the future must be offered.