A new shelter for unaccompanied minors and adult migrants in the city of Sassari on Sardinia has so far welcomed 60 people, nearly half of them unaccompanied minors. The center was set up under an agreement between local authorities and the church.
Formerly a convent of the Franciscan Friars, the shelter in the Cappuccini neighborhood of Sassari has hosted 60 migrants since the end of July. Twenty-five are unaccompanied minors, mostly from African countries.
The local diocese, with the support of Caritas, decided to run the facility after there were no responses to the official request for tender, the Prefect of Sassari, Paola Dessì, said.
"The province of Sassari currently hosts 600 migrants, however, this figure is destined to grow constantly. This week only another 30 people who arrived in Italy through the Balkan route, will be transferred to the northern part of Sardinia," said Dessì.
"I do not know why the tender notices went unanswered, but I wish to reassure everyone that those hosted at our centers have never created any type of problem related to security or of other nature," he added.
'No one can remain indifferent'
"The diocese wished to react to an emergency by making it possible to host people who are undergoing a very complex path in life," explained the city's archbishop, Gian Franco Saba, during a press conference organized to present the facility.
"The service is given to Caritas with a group of cultural mediators, doctors, and psychologists. We are facing a humanitarian crisis, this is the exact definition. The Church intervenes against human trafficking and calls on all citizens to do their part, no one can remain indifferent," he concluded.