Terre des Hommes: “Channels for regular arrivals of migrants, now ! The sole priority is to save lives. The rest is just words.”
Milano/Brussels, 03 October 2014– A year after the tragic sinking of Lampedusa, which highlighted the danger of leaving migration flows in the hands of smugglers, Terre des Hommes continues asking the Italian government and the European Union to establish regular and legal entry channels into Europe for people fleeing from war, disasters and poverty.
“We were there during those painful days, committed to playing an extremely delicate task that we would never wanted to face. We have offered our psychological assistance in the moment of recognition of the corpses, and this is something that nobody, even a professional, would have wished to do. Especially with such kind of expected tragedies" declared Federica Giannotta, Advocacy Officer and Italy Programs Manager at Terre des Hommes. "The best way to honour them and the other thousands of refugees swallowed up by the sea in recent years is to ensure humanitarian corridors for migrants, providing them a legal alternative to the “mafia” of traffickers, the rest are just words. If Eritreans, Syrians, Somalis, Palestinians and other peoples fleeing war and persecution could apply for admission through the embassies of European countries, they would not risk their lives at sea or in transit countries. In such ways, our governments could save lives and resources".
“Dismantling the perverse mechanism that promotes human trafficking means removing liquidity from criminal networks which generate huge profits and therefore reduce related negative effects on the Italian and international economy ," added Raffaele Salinari, President of the Terre des Hommes International Federation. “As I am going to restate on 3rd October at the international conference organized in Rome by the International Organisation of Migrations, the so-called "tragedy of Lampedusa" puts a spotlight on a situation that we cannot define as "an emergency", but it is instead the consequence of a series of structural, political and environmental factors determined by economics inequality between “Nord” and “South” combined to current European migration policies - internal or external – that are inconsistent, partial, little Europeanized, and even dictated by the national approach and interests”.
Currently Terre des Hommes is implementing the so called “Faro Project” in Sicily in the First Reception Centre for Unaccompanied Minors, ‘Papa Francesco Priolo Gargallo’ in the Syracuse Province (Sicily), to provide unaccompanied minors with assistance and psychological support through interviews, psychosocial and playful activities. During summer 2014 the service of counselling and psychosocial support developed by Terre des Hommes has been extended to other centres: the CPSA ‘La forza della vita’ in Pachino, ‘Le Zagare’ in Melissa, and the School ‘Verde’ in Augusta (Sicily).
The FARO project is part of “Destination Unknown campaign to protect children on the move led by Terre des Hommes International Federation. According to the most recent data, 35 million of children around the world on the move. They escape violence, wars, disaster of poverty (source: UN).
The project is made possible thanks to funding from Terre des Hommes Luxembourg (through funding from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg); Terre des hommes Foundation Lausanne, Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Terre des Hommes Germany, Terre des Hommes Switzerland/Basel and the clothing company C&A.
