Diaconia Valdese (Waldensian Diaconia), in a partnership with Oxfam Italia and the organisation Borderline Sicilia has put in place a mobile unit to make it easier to reach migrants as they leave “hotspots” – border control areas which are set up specifically to receive migrants. The mobile unit is then able to provide migrants with assistance, inform them of their rights, and direct them to structures that can host them.
Immediately after their arrival, migrants are interviewed on their juridical status, under conditions of high physical and psychological stress, without receiving any information on their right to ask for asylum. This method, which aims at speeding up the overall decision making process, produces a long number of rejections, leaving a lot of people in a condition of extreme vulnerability. These people are often at risk of falling into human trafficking and they often fear asking for help.
This “first aid” team provides also for a material help with basic necessities, such as a kit for hygiene and sanitary, clothes, packed food, water and telephone cards.
This initiative was presented at the pressroom of the Italian house of deputies in Rome, last Thursday (May 19).
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