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HL11
EXPECTATIONS
AWAITING

AWAITING


The beneficiaries of the Humanitarian Corridors projects were chosen in refugee camps and urban centers in Ethiopia. This was the middle point in their migratory journey, which began when they fled their home countries. Many of the refugees had spent years living in precarious situations, often spending more than a decade in refugee camps, even marrying and starting their families there. Others had spent only a brief time in Ethiopia, and were chosen for the Humanitarian Corridors soon after fleeing their countries of origin. The vast differences in life experience had a profound impact on how people initially adjusted to life in Italy and how they integrated into the new reality there.
The first major obstacle to integration in Italy was being accustomed to receiving aid in the refugee camps. This meant that people needed to be encouraged to abandon dependency culture, and they were not always been willing to do so. Some host communities have struggled with this mentality themselves.
Refugees who had spent less time as dependents in refugee camps generally had less difficulty charting a course for themselves in Italy, although this did not always mean that they built their new lives in the communities where they were placed by Caritas.
In many cases, this study found that refugees had made a migration plan for themselves well before leaving Ethiopia, which they did not share with Caritas Italiana social workers or their host communities. Then, once in Italy, these refugees pursued their own projects. Some of the most arduous challenges of the program involved host communities struggling to understand and accept these choices.
My research revealed that two factors were particularly important in this dynamic.
First, it became clear that the refugees had trouble being open about their true future plans, their desires, and their expectations about their reception in Italy with their host communities. They also found it difficult to explain the pressures placed on them by other relatives.
This gives rise to the second factor: host communities that were not sufficiently prepared had trouble accepting the fact that the Humanitarian Corridors program, which they had put together at the expense of their own personal and financial resources, and with a great deal of dedication to the refugees, did not ultimately correspond to what the refugees wanted for their lives.
Communities like this became upset and closed off when refugees left unexpectedly. In a small but significant number of cases (4-5), at the end of the host period, the communities announced that they would no longer participate in resettlement projects, and that they no longer wanted to take in migrants with significant physical or psychological/psychiatric vulnerabilities.
Only where the diocesan Caritas branches developed support systems that included explaining migratory trajectories and the reasons why refugees may unexpectedly leave, were communities open to hosting again after these experiences.

 

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