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Rome (Agenzia Fides) - Since the beginning of the year, more than 8,000 children and teenagers have crossed the Mediterranean to reach the Italian coast, with an increase of about 20% over the same period of the previous year. According to UNHCR data, the main nationalities of origin are Guinea (579 minors), Gambia (565) and Bangladesh (489). In addition, more generally, since the latest data available in April 2017, there are 15,939 registered minors and present in reception facilities. To give psychological support, face and live with dignity and courage the days inside the First Reception Centers SOS Children's Villages, on the occasion of World Refugee Day, which is celebrated today, June 20, officially announces the new project " I do not travel alone".
The project also provides support for tackling legal, social and cultural complexities to start a new life in the Country of arrival. With the aim of facilitating the social inclusion and integration of unaccompanied minors and young people living in Crotone, the project addresses 215 "unaccompanied foreign minors" (MSNA) in the various reception centers in Calabria, to young Italian teenagers (between 16 and 21 of age) living in the same localities and about 120 operators of first and second reception centers. Specifically, for MSNA, the project involves, in collaboration with local authorities and reception centers, services such as psychosocial support. Intercultural mediation and legal assistance services are also provided; socio-recreational activities and training workshops, aimed at promoting social and relational skills and promote the psychosocial well-being of young migrants.
Among the ongoing initiatives, from 19 to 24 June, there is a photo exhibition 'Oltre lo specchio' on the seafront of Crotone, composed of large mirror panels in which migrant minors will be represented as they carry out the daily actions they love most. In addition, from 20 to 21 June, the Social and Community Theater Center of the University of Turin (SCT) will present a theatrical performance in which the stories of foreign children arriving in Crotone will be told. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 20/6/2017)
