2016-04-21 19:54:00

St Egidio: 'refugees have a right to seek protection and travel safely'


(Vatican Radio) The organization the Vatican has entrusted with taking care of the 12 Syrian refugees who came back to Rome with Pope Francis after his visit to the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday is the Saint Egidio Community.

Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni spoke to Saint Egidio’s Cecilia Pani who is in charge of the Community’s school of Italian language for migrants and is responsible for welcoming refugees and migrants who arrive in Rome.

She was part of the team that travelled with the Pope to Greece and helped organize the unprecedented  flight back. She says she believes the Pope’s powerful gesture of legally allowing people who are fleeing conflict to enter the country speaks to an indifferent -  and even defiant world – and  puts forward  a model that other EU nations can imitate:

Listen:

“I think the Pope wanted to provoke others to imitate him, There must be a way to let them come to Europe legally and stop these terrible journeys” Pani says.

Pointing out that there a different models for integration, Cecilia Pani says she thinks Italy has quite a good model, also because people coming to Italy come from different geographical areas: “it’s not only one mono-lingual or mono-cultural population, so it is a little bit easier”.

She says that people who are fleeing war and other terrible situations not only have the right to seek protection in Europe, but also to travel safely.

The 12 refugees who came to Rome from Lesbos with Pope Francis have been granted humanitarian visas. The next step is for them to apply for asylum so that they can be recognized as refugees.

Pani also speaks of the unique experience of travelling with the Pope and of how he greeted the group twice during the journey and expressed his emotion of being able to be with the families in Lesbos: “ he said he was moved by what he saw in the camp”.

She tells of the excitement – especially of the children –when they boarded the plane and of how they were given a special meal with lasagna and chocolate which was much appreciated.

She says the three families are temporarily housed in a Saint Egidio shelter for families and young people: “we want to let them stay for a while together because they are in a completely foreign environment”.

Pani says that they will soon be moved to apartments and that the Vatican has asked the Saint Egidio Community to help with the process of integration.

“They have already registered at the Community’s School of Italian Language and have attended the first lessons (…) of course we hope that the youngest couple will soon find a job, and the children will go to school – it is their right to do so” she says.
    








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