Refugees arrive safely in Rome
on 2019 Nansen Award prize-giving day
 |
| Syrian refugees arrive in Rome thanks to a Humanitarian Corridor |
Wednesday 25 September is the date of the official
prize-giving ceremony during which the 2019 UNHCR European Nansen Award for
Refugees takes place.
By Linda Bordoni
This year the prestigious Nansen Award for Refugees goes to
the Humanitarian Corridors initiative, promoted by the
Community of Sant'Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, the
Waldensian Table and CEI-Caritas Italy for assuring a safe passage to people
who are forced to flee war and persecution.
Thanks to the Humanitarian Corridors, since February 2016
more than 2.000 refugees and vulnerable persons have been issued with legal
humanitarian visas for Italy, while the promotors of the programme have
guaranteed their transfer as well as the reception and the assistance needed to
integrate them into Italian society.
The initiative has been praised and upheld as a positive
model by Pope Francis on numerous occasions.
The prize-giving ceremony in Rome coincides with the
arrival, at the city’s international airport, of 91 Syrian refugees from
Lebanon who have been able to make the journey thanks to the Humanitarian
Corridors project. As always, promoters of the initiative organize a warm
welcome at the airport for the refugees before accompanying them to their new
homes.
Danait Guush Gebresselassie, a 28-year-old asylum
seeker from Eritrea, speaks of how the Humanitarian Corridors project has given
her the possibility of hoping for a fulfilling and dignified life.
Danait told me that thanks to a Humanitarian Corridor she
came to Italy, after having fled Eritrea and registered as a refugee in
Ethiopia.
Safe passage
The Humanitarian Corridor, she said, represented “A very
great opportunity for me, and for all those who come through this passage,
because it gives us the chance to come legally and safely, without having
troubles and without putting your life in danger”.
“And when you come here, you get to continue your studies,
or work and have a normal life – a life a person has to have,” she said.
Danait told me she made the difficult decision to leave her
home country because she found it impossible to live a free and fulfilling life
in Eritrea.
She mentioned a mandatory military service that conscripts
young people for an unlimited time; she decried a lack of democracy, a lack of
opportunities in higher education, a lack of basic facilities.
“The country is not open to the world. There is no internet.
You can’t get in touch with people around the world. They don’t let you have a
normal life,” she said.
She told me that once in Ethiopia, she was registered as a
refugee just like many others. She then came into contact with Dr
Alganesc, the founder and chairwomen of an NGO, the Gandhi Charity.
The Gandhi Charity
Dr Alganesc is an Eritrean national by birth who has
dedicated her life to assisting hundreds of thousands of fellow countrymen who
risk their lives to flee through Ethiopia’s northern border.
There are currently some 900,000 refugees in Ethiopia. Most
of them come from Eritrea, South Sudan and Somalia.
Danait said that thanks to her knowledge of Italian, she got
to work with Dr Alganesc and with Caritas as an interpreter for Eritreans who
wanted to go to Italy.
Pope Francis and faith-based organizations
Danait told me she is well aware of Pope Francis’ support
for the Humanitarian Corridors initiative and said she feels supported and
protected by the faith-based organizations that have made all this possible.
What do you hope for your future? I asked her:
“I’m at the beginning so I’m trying to have a new life and
I’m trying to continue my studies and to work… I hope it is going to be very
good because I have so many plans and hopefully everything goes well!”
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