On Wednesday 25 June, 71 refugees arrived at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Fiumicino on a flight organised by UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency from Tripoli.
More than half are women and children, who have suffered serious abuse, including detention, on their journey from their countries of origin and in Libya. Some of them have lived for a long time in the country and some of the children were born there.
Their arrival in Italy has been made possible by a protocol between the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, UNHCR, Arci and the Community of Sant'Egidio, signed in December 2023, which has so far enabled the safe arrival of 558 people.
The refugees, who come mainly from various African countries (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Sudan), will be hosted in several Italian regions by the Community of Sant'Egidio, with the support of religious associations and congregations, and by the network of Circoli Rifugio Arci, supported by funds from the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai. They will immediately begin an integration process, based on the successful model of humanitarian corridors. The minors will be enrolled in school, and the adults will be given Italian language lessons and help finding work.
The entirely self-financed humanitarian corridors are a civil society initiative that shows it is possible to combine rescue from fleeing across the sea – and thus from human trafficking – with reception and integration. This is an internationally recognised best practice that can become a model for other countries and the entire EU. At a time marked by an increasing number of wars, they are a concrete response to vulnerable people and families who have a right to protection and deserve hope for the future. Since February 2016, more than 8,000 refugees have arrived in Europe via humanitarian corridors.
