Corridoi umanitari dall’Afghanistan

The first phase of the project called “Corridoi umanitari dall’Afghanistan” (Human corridors from Afghanistan) brought 87 Afghan men and women to Italy (compared to the 50 originally planned).
Thanks to the collaboration with the Arci shelters network and to a careful matching exercise, 87 people found shelter in Italy.
The second phase includes supporting the additional 37 people already arrived as well as 20 new arrivals belonging to four target groups:

• women arriving alone or alone with children;
• women activists, militants, human rights defenders (people who risk being persecuted because of their political, social, cultural or artistic activism);
• members of the LGBTQ+ community;
• male and female journalists.

The network of Arci shelters — already supported by the Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai with 8×1000 funds from 2020 — will set up an accommodation system both in dedicated apartments and with hosting families. Expert operators and mediators will be available to assist the shelters, alongside specific services already managed by Arci.
Starting from the second half of August 2021, the Afghan emergency has been upsetting the public opinion and attracting the attention of all organizations working to protect the rights of asylum-seekers in Italy. Through the toll-free number and in collaboration with the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Arci immediately launched a procedure to report people in danger, operating as a liaison between various associations. More than a thousand people were reported and the service became one of the main contacts for the Afghan community in Italy and for their loved ones still in Afghanistan. This and the joint work carried out with four other associations led to the signing of a first-ever protocol with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior ensuring the arrival of around 1,200 people thanks to humanitarian corridors through Iran and Pakistan.