BALADI NEWS
More than a hundred Syrian refugees arrived in Rome on Wednesday, the latest wave of refugees from the war-torn country to be escorted to safety in Europe.
The 113 men, women and children arrived at Rome's Fiumicino airport from Lebanon where church groups had arranged their safe passage out of refugee camps.
"Viva Italy," shouted the approximately 30 children among the group, as a host families and volunteers greeted the new arrivals - some of them family members -- with smiles and tears.
"These kids have only known the war and refugee camps. But now they'll have a future in Italy," said Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which together with the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) and the Waldensian Evangelical Church, organised and financed the safe passage.
Since 2016, the groups have together brought over 3,000 Syrians to Italy, France, Belgium and Andorra, 1,800 of them to Italy alone.
For the new arrivals, the network provides housing and organises schooling for children as well as language classes.
Within about a year, most families have begun to integrate into society, organisers say.
Source: France 24.