A total of 106 refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq and Cameroon arrived at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on 23 February and on March 7 2023. The arrivals were made possible by the Humanitarian Corridors implemented by Sant’Egidio together with other partners. These latest arrivals are based on a protocol signed between the Community and the Italian government in November 2021, and on another protocol signed with the Ministry of the Interior concerning the arrival of third country refugees from Greece.
The first arrival, on February 23rd, allowed 97 Afghan refugees to be welcomed; they will be hosted in diocesan churches and communities in northern and southern Italy, namely in Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Lazio, Puglia and Calabria. The second arrival regarded 11 migrants from Iraq, Congo and Cameroon, previously living in the Greek refugee camps of Moria and Lesbos. Among them, some particularly vulnerable minors are included.
While the shipwreck occurred on the coast of Cutro, Calabria, continues to be debated in the Italian and international public discourse, Humanitarian Corridors may represent a viable alternative to deaths and human trafficking, as well as an example of a European solution. Corridors have also been opened in Belgium and France.