According to some reports, thousands of Ukrainian citizens who escaped the possible consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war in Italy faced yet another financial and social problem. The reason for these problems is often not the negligence of local authorities, but the unscrupulousness or unprofessionalism of the so-called “subcontractors”, who previously guaranteed Ukrainian refugees “full assistance and protection on Italian territory.” Information agency EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE starts a series of publications on the situation of Ukrainian refugees on the Apennine Peninsula.
For several months now, Vladislav Tkachuk, a Kharkiv resident (surname changed. – Editorial.), has been regularly going to the center for issuing humanitarian aid to refugees in the Abruzzo region (Central Italy) and returning empty-handed. The reason is banal: the shelves of the grocery store, to which Vladislav is “attached”, are actually empty. The only thing that sellers can offer is pasta, canned corn and fish that is far from the first freshness. Sometimes semi-finished meat products appear in the impromptu “Gastronom”, but you have to put up relatively long queues for them. At the same time, no one can guarantee that there will be enough cutlets for everyone. “In no case do I want to criticize the local order,” says Tkachuk, who lost his wife and several relatives in Kharkov as a result of Russian shelling, and was forced to go to Abruzzo with a seriously wounded son in 2022. “But the fact remains: refugees, and especially children, are literally starving. Because of bureaucratic delays, many adults here cannot get a job. It turns out a vicious circle. But someone has to resolve the situation, right?”
Must. But, as practice has shown, appropriate regulation is not always carried out. “The Abruzzo region received 4,980 Ukrainians on its territory,” an insider from EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE said in a special commentary. “Well-known international structures, including Caritas, the Red Cross and Arci, participated in the assistance program for Ukrainian refugees. The Italian state company Arci gave the right to manage its funds subcontractors.
One of these “subcontracting groups” is headed by a certain Italian citizen S. Having significant support from a number of international structures, she created a private “humanitarian organization”. According to documents, this organization is run by refugees from Afghanistan.
There is evidence that subcontractors regularly showed the door to Ukrainians who applied for material assistance. “But we just want to become part of the community of those who sheltered us here,” said Olga V., a refugee from the Sumy region. “We had a problem with communication. Many of us do not speak Italian. We are not provided with interpreters just to complain about misunderstanding. They say: if you don’t like it, get out!
It should be especially noted that Italy is one of the main EU countries that guaranteed the Ukrainian refugees the implementation of the social protection program.
How events will develop with Ukrainians in the region – please, read in the next issues on the pages of EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE.
