Mediterranean Hope began work in the aftermath of a tragic shipwreck in which 368 people died. For Italian Christians that shipwreck was tantamount to a call from God to recognize that the church needs to be present in places that many people just see as borders.
On the island of Lampedusa, a central point for the flow of people in the Mediterranean, the Observatory on Migration was born. There, on a small pier, the Observatory has welcomed hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence, blackmail, detention, discrimination, and desertification. The Observatory offers a word of welcome, a cup of hot tea, and a feeling of closeness in an otherwise controlled space in which humanity is seen as something to be suppressed as a way of preserving order.
From its experience on Lampedusa the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy came to recognize the importance of standing beside people made vulnerable by a system of global injustice. Over time Italian churches realized the urgency of finding safe and legal ways for desperate people to come to Italy and Europe that do not depend on dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean. Thus, the Humanitarian Corridors model was born. As a result, there is now a solid legal basis that allows people to arrive legally and with dignity, with an organized reception that involves both civil society and faith communities.
The Humanitarian Corridors model has brought more than 7,000 people to Italy since 2016 and is now recognized nationally and internationally.