The mayor who houses refugees at his home

The mayor has provided a house that he owns, to welcome a group of refugees, almost in order to avoid a question that might come from an inhabitant of Comerio, one that politicians are increasingly asked: “Why don’t you take them into your home?” No sooner said than done. In a note to the press, Silvio Aimetti said much more, and even announced a plan that establishes the conditions of hospitality for asylum seekers in his municipality.

“In relation to the applications received from the Prefect, Dr Giorgio Zanzi,” the Mayor wrote, “and more generally, to the numerous appeals received in the last few weeks from such people as Pope Francis and the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the council of Comerio have decided we must respond to the urgent demand for hospitality for people who find themselves in serious difficulty.”

 

With the council, Mayor Aimetti has produced a detailed support plan which he says “is shared by and involves the people of Comerio, and has not been ‘forced’ on them”, which satisfies both the general demands and the current needs of our municipality.

Which ones? “To provide hospitality, for a limited time period, to a number of migrants that we consider to be compatible with the ‘social life’ of our municipality, to create a valid plan of voluntary work for these people, in the village, in such a way as to make their presence useful, and to satisfy the requests of some inhabitants of Comerio of Italian nationality, who are currently unemployed, by activating job placement projects.”

In order to achieve these objectives, the Council have decided to identify both privately and publicly owned facilities that are empty and that can help. The first person to confirm his availability was the Mayor himself, with an apartment that he owns, which lends itself for immediate use. This apartment has been made available, free of charge, to the non-profit cooperative “Lotta contro l’emarginazione” (“Fight against alienation”), who, in having the apartment free of charge, have agreed to be responsible for internships for unemployed people of Comerio, together with the local social services.

The likely start of the hospitality to migrants is the second half of August. During this period, contact will be made with associations that operate in the social sphere, with the Parish and, more generally, with the people of Comerio, who have always proven to be supportive, ready to help those who are suffering or are in difficulty.