Rome (NEV), July 5, 2017 – Yesterday morning a group of 52 refugees reached Fiumicino Airport from Lebanon thanks to the “humanitarian corridors”. Half of them were children, mostly from Syria, some in serious health conditions.
To welcome them at the Rome airport, as usual, the ecumenical team composed by the operators and the volunteers of the promoters of the project: the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI), the Community of St. Egidio and the Waldensian Board. The 52 people will be accommodated according to the widespread reception model: 38 are taken over by the Waldensian Diaconia in Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany and Venice, while the others will be hosted by St. Egidio in Rome, near Verona and on Sardinia.
From the 4th of February 2016 up to now, 850 are the refugees who entered, regularly and in safety, into the Italian territory. Manuela Vinay present at the airport on behalf of the Protestant churches welcomed the newly arrived families by saing: “I invite you all to open yourselves and share your stories without fear: here is a meeting between peoples and generations! Welcome to everyone of you! There are now 850 stories to be told”. To emphasize the theme of reception Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of St. Egidio said: “We are happy to give you the possibility of a future of hope: you are receiving this first welcome full of affection with the perspective of integration. You are our fellow citizens under every respect. You children must know that our schools are already waiting for you”.
Mario Giro, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, with regard to the controversy about the emergency of these days landings, affirmed: “I would like to say to the Italian public opinion that there is not only fear, anger, dispute; there are not only problems, but there are also the smiling faces of these children which reassure us and demonstrate that it is possible to do things with the reasonableness of reception. Something is moving thanks to the civil society: the immigration challenge will be solved by putting together civil society and institutions”.
The arrival of the first French “humanitarian corridor” is scheduled for today the 5th of July in the evening, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. FCEI president, Luca Maria Negro –who will be present – declared: “For us this is an important goal. France is the first European country to follow the Italian example, a good practice brought forward in an ecumenical way, where Protestants and Catholics work together to welcome people who lost everything because of war and persecution”.
Yesterday FCEI sent a letter calling ecumenical and international partners to take initiatives also at United Nations level.
