Rome (NEV), February 21st 2017 – An Italian ecumenical delegation left yesterday for Morocco with the aim to strengthen local relations in order to open a “humanitarian corridor”, just like the ones that have been carried out for a year by now from Lebanon. The delegation led by the President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI), pastor Luca Maria Negro, includes Waldensian pastor Maria Bonafede, a member of the FCEI Council; Paolo Naso, coordinator of Mediterranean Hope – Refugee and Migrant Program; Massimo Gnone of the Diaconia Valdese; and Xavier Vidal of the Community of Sant’Egidio.
Among the scheduled meetings, encounters will take place with the Italian Ambassador to Morocco Roberto Natali, the representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM), the board of the Protestant Church of Morocco. Furthermore, meetings are also scheduled with institutions and associations of Morocco’s civil society and with the Catholic bishop of Tangier. “We leave confident to strengthen relations of cooperation and friendship with our Moroccan partners, – said the president of FCEI, pastor Luca Maria Negro, to Press Agency NEV – sure that the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Morocco can provide an important tool to protect individuals and families of migrants, mainly from West Africa, who have been living in Morocco in situations of serious difficulties and vulnerabilities. Our mission is carried out on the eve of new arrivals of Syrian refugees from Lebanon which, at the beginning of next March, will amount to about 700 units. It is a very significant result, that once again we propose ecumenically to the attention of Europe and of our sister churches”.
The #humanitariancorridors program, launched in January 2016, is held as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 15 December 2015 by representatives of the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, the Waldensian Board and the Community of Sant’Egidio.
