(ROME, ITALY - special envoy) - At the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, in Piazza Beniamino Gigli, Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, a well-known human rights defender, made his debut for Giacomo Puccini's iconic Turandot, with Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv. His presence on the podium is more relevant than ever, and the activist knows it: in his version there are refugees and violence. A reminder to the viewer that reality exceeds fiction.
Just 50 metres away, on the square in front of Termini, the Roman train station, dozens of Ukrainians timidly approach Italian Red Cross tents to get vaccinated, tested and receive health advice.
“Vaccination here in Rome is falling because 90% of the population is already vaccinated. Many of the Ukrainians who have just arrived are not vaccinated and are in a very vulnerable and particularly fragile situation at the moment,” Paola Bernieri, delegate of the Red Cross social area in Rome, tells Infobae.
More than 15,000 Ukrainians live in Rome, 4% of the city's population of foreign origin, and this humanitarian crisis brought a wave of refugees from Ukraine to the capital of Italy, many of them from humanitarian flights.
It's almost all women with children. “There are so many young children... and they need to be informed and we take care of everything a little. They are mothers who have traveled, been out in the open, homeless, who left their Ukrainian brothers
back, and they're scared. What I noticed is that most of the people who arrived in the first few weeks already had someone they knew: the grandmother, the aunt, the cousin. Now people are coming who, on the other hand, have no contacts in Italy and, therefore, they arrive and need help.”
“The women who arrive here are exhausted and don't know how to communicate in any language other than Ukrainian. Children scream playing, and what a greater joy than that! But they are alone, and they have to call the number of Civil Protection and this and another place. Here Caritas also derives them, we guide them and they can be tested or vaccinated (if they want but they all ask to be vaccinated)”, reveals the representative of La Croce Rossa.
In line, a woman named Eva tells Infobae that she is very tired: “I traveled five days in a row to get here.” He can hardly stand and holds the hand of a girl about five years old.
The Red Cross is also responsible for issuing them a temporary health card, which is very important for accessing various health services and for them to be able to move freely on public transport. If they require it, they call Civil Protection to get them accommodation.
But they don't just deal with health issues: “We also have an additional service where we give food cards to residents who are hosting Ukrainian refugees for extra support.”
On the other hand, Saturdays and Sundays began with an Italian course aimed at mothers and children. “What we notice is a lot of concern from mothers that children go to school, although they all hope that it will be a transitory situation and they can soon recover their lives. They arrive with the hope of staying here for a short time and returning home soon. Unfortunately we don't know how long it will last and neither do they”, says Bernieri. “And learning a little Italian becomes essential for them to be able to get a job. There is a lot of interest on their part to be educated.”
On Tuesday 22nd the Italian Red Cross returned to Rome, after a 96-hour trip, with 83 Ukrainians from Lviv, mostly women, the elderly and children. Many were in a very fragile state. All people were referred to other destinations within Italy, where they already had confirmed accommodation.
Italy has already received more than 50 thousand Ukrainian refugees, according to a count by the Ministry of the Interior. And Rome, in this way, becomes a main gateway and a temporary destination that seeks to open its borders to all those fleeing war.
Franco Fafasuli: Photos
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