Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day. On the occasion of this day, Avvenire di Calabria offers an in-depth analysis on the topic with a contribution from Mariangela Ambrogio, director of Caritas of Reggio Calabria-Bova.
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At the center of the in-depth study are the four ways of social inclusion and the words spoken by the Pope at the Campidoglio in recent days. There is also space for the interview with Giovanni Fortugno for the tenth anniversary of Casa Annunziata, structure dedicated to the reception of foreign refugee minors.
Maria Angela Ambrogio (Caritas): «Welcoming and including is a duty»
by Maria Angela Ambrogio *
In 2018, Pope Francis entrusted us with four verbs in his message for Refugee Day: welcome, protect, promote, integrate. Four essential ways that indicate the path to social inclusionvalid to accompany all situations of vulnerability, not only those of migrants but of all humanity.
Welcome it means offering migrants safe and legal entry, preparing more human-scale reception environments. To protect it has to do with the defense of the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees, regardless of their migratory status. It is undoubtedly a protection that begins at home and consists in offering certain and certified information before departure and in safeguarding against illegal recruitment practices.
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To promote it means putting people in a position to get back on their feet, that is, to realize themselves as individuals in all the dimensions that make up the humanity desired by God. To integrate, finally it means that it is not enough to give a blanket, or food at the port, but we must offer opportunities to overcome the linguistic barrier, find ways of legal work inclusion, work for dignified living conditions and thus promote intercultural enrichment generated by the presence of different cultures .
In the city we have recently concluded the initiatives organized to celebrate the 3 June as a city day to remember the victims at sea. For eight years now, every year a wound has reopened, a collective pain, which undoubtedly highlights the failure of reception, the shattering of the dreams of change of people who left their homeland and who were not successful in the migratory project.
Even we Christians, however, after having given them a dignified burial, risk having the victims of the sea die twice every time we do nothing for the right social inclusion in our communities. It is not enough to say that migrants represent an added value in our communities, it is also necessary to highlight that the language has become harsh, and is built to raise the level of fear and insecurity towards those who are different in somatic character from us. It must be forcefully reiterated that migration policies are increasingly repellent and do not take into account the causes that generate the need to leave.
* Director of the diocesan Caritas Reggio Calabria-Bova
Casa Annunziata, serving foreign refugee minors for ten years
Casa Annunziata turns tenthe. «This structure was born exactly in December 2014, with the aim of welcoming the numerous unaccompanied minors who were starting to arrive on our shores», an excited Giovanni Fortugnoone of the creators of this space of welcome and inclusion, the only shelter in Italy to welcome foreign refugee minors. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary, which includes several events culminating in December, we took stock with him.
How was Casa Annunziata born and how does it differ from other reception homes?
In 2010, I was asked by the Pope John Community to deal with immigration at an international level. After studying the phenomenon and observing the landings in Reggio in 2013, we asked ourselves how the Church should respond. From here Casa Annunziata was born in 2014, as a response to the delicate management of the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors. We learned what we shouldn’t do, such as mass reception, which turned out to be ineffective.
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We also work intensely with the families of origin for an effective and complex intervention. Despite being a structure with professional figures, we try to create a family community atmosphere. Furthermore, we work a lot with families of origin, making our intervention complex but effective. Unlike other structures which, for example, have the limit of welcoming minors under 14 years of age, with Casa Annunziata since December 2023 we have obtained definitive accreditation as the only structure in Calabria to welcome foreign refugee minors, distinguishing ourselves for our ability to welcome both males and females in the same facility.
What are the critical issues when minors arrive?
Our facility, which has accommodation for 16 places, hosts minors aged between 9 and 17, some of whom travel alone and others with their parents. One of the main critical issues is the absence of documents, since many minors come from countries where there is no defined registry system. This often leads to documents with a generic date of birth such as “01/01”, making it necessary to reconstruct the age based on the minors’ stories. Furthermore, there are difficulties in finding families and in communication, even if on this last aspect we collaborate with the Montalbetti school for the literacy of minors, which takes place in two or three months.
What happens when they reach adulthood age?
This morning I met the first group of my kids who arrived here at 12 years old. Some are finishing their state exams, others have found work or are enrolled at university. I told them that these successes are a source of great pride for us and one of them replied: “We couldn’t do anything without you, you gave us the foundations.” The tenth anniversary of our facility will also be their celebration, of the kids we welcomed and hosted.
Can you take stock of these ten years of Casa Annunziata?
In these ten years, Casa Annunziata has hosted 190 minors, each with their own story. Boys and girls, 190 lives intertwined with each other. We also experienced moments of suffering and there were kids who were unable to integrate. Not all stories have a happy ending, but every experience has taught us something. I often think of sad stories, like that of the children who unfortunately did not manage to reach this land alive. I remember a landing in which there were 45 deaths.
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I will never forget those images, with the little bodies recognizable only by their diapers. But I also think about good stories. This facility reunited seven children with their parents after they had been separated. For this reason, every time one of our children manages to build a future for themselves, to dream and hope, it is a great victory for us.
