“The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI) and others involved in support for migrants on land, at sea and in the skies are strengthening their collaboration.
The humanitarian corridors programme, an ecumenical project developed by the FCEI’s Mediterranean Hope team with the Comunità di Sant’Egidio in 2015 is now in its second phase. It has produced legacy corridors enabling over 2,000 migrants to travel safely and legally to Italy, France, Belgium & Andorra from the Middle East & from sub-Saharan Africa.
This pioneering spirit remained in evidence on 20 December as the FCEI unveiled its collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at work in the Mediterranean and its support for the communities in Calabria which have provided the world with a model for welcoming migrants.
The FCEI, which has already been collaborating for over a year with Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms (POA), will now extend financial, material and logistical support to Sea-Watch and to Pilotes Volontaires. Support for the communities in Calabria will be more nuanced, taking account of the difficult economic conditions in which these communities find themselves.” (World Council of Churches)
(The FCEI, formed in 1967, has members including the Union of Waldensian Churches (Waldensian Evangelical Church and Methodist Evangelical Church) and other historical Protestant Churches.)