“The Red Cross has carried out constant checks on the housing situation and no particular critical issues have ever been detected. Our daily commitment is aimed at ensuring, first and foremost, respect for the dignity of the people hosted in the centers”: this is the response that comes from the president Giuliana Biondi and the board of directors of the Forlì Red Cross to the Taras cooperative, which has made the structures available for the reception of war refugees.
Taras complained of problems with the management of around 150 refugees assigned to the Red Cross. The dispute pits the body which manages services for refugees fleeing from Ukraine and the Taras cooperative which owns the two properties intended for reception, the Paradise Airport hotel and a structure in via Lughese. For the cooperative, the use of the two structures for an excessive number of guests compared to what was agreed would have caused damage, as well as a service in poor hygienic conditions (including, for example, the lack of hot water for weeks).
From the point of view of the Teras cooperative, a situation of heavy arrears in payments and also a shortage of staff present is also complained of. In light of this, the eviction was requested by the end of the month. Taras also made this request to the institutions, including the prefect, mayor and ASL Romagna. However, the Red Cross speaks of “numerous inaccuracies” in its supplier’s complaint.
First of all, for the president and the board of directors of the Cri, the number of migrants welcomed has “always been agreed with the Prefecture and the ownership of the host structures, and in any case it has never been excessive compared to the capacity of the structures themselves”. Regarding the poor hygienic conditions, “the contract with the Taras Cooperative provides that the cooperative itself must provide for the cleaning of the premises, the maintenance of the structures and the supply, with relative weekly change, of the linen”.
However, the Red Cross responds by explaining that “in any case it will be up to the Red Cross to implement greater control over the structures and compliance with the rules, as well as strengthen the work carried out to date by volunteers and employees, in relation to the integration process of the guests.” And finally: “Regarding administrative and accounting issues, the appropriate checks are underway in the offices and with the competent bodies. We thank the Prefecture for the constant support and renewed trust that we hope to continue to find in the population, as part of our daily humanitarian action”.
