The centre is part of the "Salesians for Social APS" network, and is the main collection point for unaccompanied foreign minors who transit from Campania: the institute manages an immediate reception community, one in the medium term and a project aimed at promoting the social and work inclusion of those who come of age.
The Director, Fr Giovanni Vanni, SDB, is a reference point for young North Africans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis. In six years he has seen 799 young people arrive from as many as 37 different countries: the world passes through Naples, but few seem to realise it. "Many come from Tunisia, but in the last two years the majority have come from Egypt. They follow a detailed itinerary from the start: they depart from Tobruk, which is the closest Libyan port to the border. While waiting for the boat, they are crammed into a shed: they do not suffer violence, but they are not free to leave. The average age has dropped: a few days ago I received a 14-year-old." Naples is like a great filter where this lost young humanity gathers.
"Ours is the first big city you meet coming from the South" Fr Vanni reflects. "Those who disembark only know that they have to go north, otherwise they rely on word of mouth. And after becoming football champions of Italy, Naples became even more famous, there is a magnet effect. These young people immediately try to raise money for the trip: they work for cash, usually in the fields, then get on a train or bus. The problem is that no one seems to see them. If they have a ticket, paradoxically they become invisible: they travel at night, rarely does anyone bother to ask them who they are, where they are going." The landing point is their goal. A land port.
Minors arrive the docks and first look for food. The Caritas canteen feeds them and entrusts them to Fr Vanni, who hosts them in the "La Zattera" community. "Before coming to us, however, they bivouac for a few days at the point of arrival, amid general indifference. Until maybe some policeman notices them and calls us. Sometimes it is the very young people who are already guests who report them to us" the Salesian says.
Many settle in, and once they come of age they enter the integration project. The Salesian centre provides a home and supports them at the beginning of their journey as adults. "First we help them keep their documents in order: identity card and residence. So then they can rent an apartment, work and see a doctor. The Italian language school is another fundamental integration tool. And then we are a bit like their second parents, we try to give them an education that is based on encouragement, but also on reproaches. The secret is to discover what they are good at and support them, perhaps including them in vocational training."
The risk of someone going astray is real, but fortunately infrequent. "The working and housing solution helps: if someone has a solid character, they do not encounter huge problems. But easy money and living by the day can be a temptation for those who are weaker or feel like asking for money from their family of origin. This way they can end up in the crime ring. But I have to say that the percentage of former residents in prison is low."
Others simply disappear. "You can't hold on to them. They tell you I'm going to go for a ride, or to get cigarettes. And you don't see them anymore. Then maybe they call you from France, where for example all the French speakers go, to tell you that everything is fine. But you can't be sure, so you don't withdraw the missing persons report.” The big black hole is also fed this way: Italy loses sight of them and goodbye.
But there is no lack of the most disturbing hypotheses: "A few years ago a policeman mentioned to me a possible organ trafficking" Fr Vanni reeals. "There were reports of a suspicious van that offered passages to the North... But then I never heard from him again.”
Nightmares that remain against the backdrop of a difficult situation. “Sometimes someone calls me from Emilia or Lombardy. They are in the cold, without shelter and do not know what to do." Some people wash their hands of it, even when they couldn't. "At the end of January, a 17-year-old Egyptian called me: the police had stopped him and taken him to the Police Station, then had put a sheet of paper in his hand that said: you are required to report to the social services on Monday. But it was Saturday and he didn't know where to go. I paid for his train ticket and got him back to Naples."
Fr Francesco Preite, President of "Salesians for Social APS", says: "The migrants we welcome are young people who have had less from life. Precisely for this reason they are at the centre of our social and educational action that requires the involvement of a community made up of people, associations, institutions and companies. A community capable of giving dignity to young people and of enhancing the potential present in each of them."
Marco Birolini
Source: Avvenire
