FCEI is delighted to announce that the long-awaited protocol needed to facilitate the arrival of 85 COMET beneficiaries to Italy was signed at the end of December 2023. The protocol, which will primarily facilitate safe passage for people currently trapped in Libya, includes a small quota for UN-identified refugees already in Niger, COMET’s departure hub. FCEI and Refugees Welcome Italia will together coordinate hosting, whilst other COMET partners Associazione Frantz Fanon, Mosaico and Reset will be directly involved in preparing and supporting host communities, as well as the beneficiaries themselves.
“It has taken much longer than anticipated for this protocol to be signed,” said FCEI’s Fiona Kendall , “but that has only sharpened our collective desire to build on the already-active COMET pathways and to apply lessons learned over the last two years to this one. We are grateful to the work already done by UNHCR in identifying candidates and look forward to working with Open Arms in arranging travel for those who will arrive, we trust, before spring.”
For further information (in Italian) about the protocol, please click on the following link:
