The project promoted and implemented by INTERSOS together with UNHCR continues, thanks to which four more refugee minors have safely reached Italy to continue their studies
photo by Fabio Bucciarelli
The second group of four unaccompanied minors, beneficiaries of the “Pagella in tasca project, study channels for refugee children” promoted by the humanitarian organization INTERSOS together with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and implemented thanks to a memorandum of understanding with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Italian Cooperation, the Interior and Labor, and the commitment of civil society and the City of Turin, arrived today, October 12, 2022, at Turin Airport. This is the second arrival following the first group of five minors who arrived in Italy last year.
The project participants are minors between the ages of 16 and 17, originally from Darfur, Sudan, and refugees in Niger, and were selected on the basis of their motivation to study following a careful assessment of their best interest. All four boys fled on their own to Libya, where they suffered mistreatment and exploitation, before finding protection in Niger.
Thanks to a 12-month scholarship, the boys will enter Italy with a study entry visa, a possibility provided by law but never previously used for refugee minors, in order to obtain a middle school diploma and then continue on to upper secondary school or vocational training. They will also be hosted by families selected and trained by the City of Turin, and receive educational, legal, and psychological support.
The value of the “Pagella in tasca” project
“Pagella in tasca represents the first experimentation in the world of a civil society-promoted safe entry channel dedicated to unaccompanied refugee minors, who are currently excluded from humanitarian corridors and most other regular entry channels,” explains Cesare Fermi, Regional Director for Europe at INTERSOS. “The minors are taken in by foster families assessed as suitable by social services, unlike almost all unaccompanied minors in Italy, who are housed in facilities. The results obtained by the children who arrived in 2021 are proof that this type of widespread, family-based care facilitates social inclusion and success in study.”
“Projects such as Pagella in Tasca represent an alternative to the irregular and dangerous journeys in which refugees all too often lose their lives and are at the same time a tangible demonstration of solidarity and shared responsibility among states,” said Chiara Cardoletti, UNHCR Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino. “Italy once again proves to be at the forefront in developing similar programs and UNHCR is happy to continue working together with ministries, local authorities, and civil society to offer more and more opportunities like this to refugees.”
Along with INTERSOS and UNHCR, the City of Turin, the CPIA Piemonte network, the Archdiocese of Turin, the Terremondo cooperative, and the associations ASAI, Mosaic, and Frantz Fanon are partners in the project. The project is implemented with the support of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Migrantes Foundation, Acri, Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and the European Commission.