Refugee Circles – More corridors for freedom
With ARCI, supporting humanitarian corridors for refugees fleeing Libya and Afghanistan, providing them with protection and reception in Italy.
Starting date
15 November 2023Duration
12 monthsRealized by:
Arci NazionaleObjectives
Maintain a high focus on the Afghan and Libyan crises by supporting all interventions that aim to implement safe and legal channels of entry for people seeking protection.
Highlight the stories of refugee people and launching pathways for their health, legal, social, educational, training and employment inclusion.
Involve sheltered people in social-cultural activities promoted with and by the network of shelter circles.
Two years after the signing of the protocol for the implementation of humanitarian corridors, the Afghanistan emergency has worsened. Beside the violence of the Taliban regime, which has continued to progressively limit individual freedoms, the various earthquakes that have struck several areas of the country made the situation even more dramatic. Arci, also thanks to the contribution of the 8×1000 funds of the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai, managed to reach and exceed the number of people in its care: between July and November 2022, 3 humanitarian corridors were set up and 500 people were rescued, 113 of them with Arci. The network of Arci’s refugee circles activated reception routes, following people in the procedure for the recognition of international protection and in the choices regarding the path to inclusion. However, the list of people to be rescued has continued to lengthen. The channels dedicated to collecting reports remained open, as did the intervention that specifically target: single women and women with families, activists/militants/human rights defenders, people who identify with the LGBTQ+ community, journalists and their families. Thanks to the signing of a new addendum, it will be possible to activate additional humanitarian corridors for at least another 100 people from Afghanistan and 150 from Libya. In both cases, ARCI has committed to support the inclusion pathways and financial burdens of reception for at least one year.
The ‘Refugee Circles – More corridors to freedom’ project envisages the activation for one year of at least 80 places for Afghans and people currently in Libya. With regard to the protocol for corridors from Libya, Arci intends to dedicate its quota to people with specific medical and health needs and unaccompanied minors. The network of Refugee Circles will welcome people both in dedicated flats and in hosting families (especially for unaccompanied minors). All Circles will have at their disposal expert staff as well as the specific services managed by Arci nazionale (toll-free number – JumaMap – Here4you).
