A group of 22 refugees from Afghanistan arrived in Rome as part of the Humanitarian Corridors initiative organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio and other Church organizations.
MARCO IMPAGLIAZZO
President of the Community of Sant’Egidio
The humanitarian corridor guarantees, with financial aid from the host association, host Italian citizens, and not the State, the reception and integration of people who are in truly dramatic situations and who are forced to flee from serious crises.
The group came from a camp in Pakistan where they have been living for almost two years. They are just a small fraction of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Afghanistan.The Humanitarian Corridors project is a collaboration between the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Italy and the Italian government.
It began following the tragic shipwreck off Lampedusa in 2013 where over 300 migrants and refugees died.The project’s goal is to provide people in “vulnerable conditions” safe and legal entry to Italy. It is an initiative Pope Francis supports. And he has frequently spoken about respecting the dignity and rights of migrants and refugees.
POPE FRANCIS
April 16, 2016
We must never forget, however, that migrants, rather than simply being a statistic, are first of all persons who have faces, names and individual stories. Europe is the homeland of human rights, and whoever sets foot on European soil ought to sense this, and thus become more aware of the duty to respect and defend those rights.
Over 6,000 refugees, almost all being hosted in Italy, have arrived safely in Europe thanks to the help of this ecumencial migrants initiative.
KG
