Rome, Italy, Jul 16, 2020 / 10:10 am
A Catholic community welcomed Thursday the first refugees to arrive in Rome via a humanitarian corridor through the island of Lesbos since Italy's coronavirus lockdown.
The 10 refugees from Afghanistan had been stuck in transit in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island. The camp -- originally intended to hold 3,000 refugees -- now has more than 19,000 people.
"Moria is known as the hell of Europe," one refugee, Razieh Gholami, told journalists upon her arrival in Rome July 16, four months after Italy closed its borders completely to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
"The refugees who live in Moria live in a difficult, frightening condition where fundamental rights are repressed and they have no way of returning or moving forward," she said.