Refugee Day, Mattarella’s appeal: “A structural solution is extremely urgent”

“In celebrating World Refugee Day today, it is appropriate to reiterate that initiatives to assist these people and in particular refugees who find themselves in particularly vulnerable conditions must be accompanied by the search for an indispensable and urgent long-term structural solution” . The President of the Republic wrote it in a message in which he recalled that “about 100 million men, women and children, on all continents, are forced to leave their homes to find protection against persecution, abuse and violence”. For them, Sergio Mattarella claims attention: “The sense of humanity and respect for the highest values ​​inscribed in the Republican Constitution require not ignoring their drama”.

The anniversary comes just in the days in which another great tragedy of emigration took place off the coast of Greece. Italy, recalls the Head of State, has “always been at the forefront in fulfilling the high duty of solidarity, assistance and hospitality, according to the provisions of the Constitution for those who are prevented in their own country from effectively exercising rights and democratic freedoms”. And Mattarella addresses a thought to all the interlocutors who are daily involved in the reception and assistance network: “In the awareness of the numerous challenges that see us as protagonists in defense of refugees – he writes in his message – I would like to thank the High Commissioner of the United Nations, with which Italy maintains intense ties of collaboration. I also thank the staff of the various State Administrations and all the international protection and reception operators who, with great professionalism and a profound humanitarian spirit, work daily to alleviate the suffering of refugees and guarantee them access to essential services”.