April 16th, 2019 PRESS RELEASE
MILAN JOINS FOR THE RIGHTS OF UNACCCOMPANIED FOREIGN MINORS
A Charter for the rights of the Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (MSNA) is a resolution that has been approved by the Milan City Council on a proposal by Diana De Marchi (President of the Equalities Commission) and by the City Councilors Alessandro Giunti and Simonetta D’Amico.
This extraordinary accomplishment is a result of a long work that has marked in the last years the job done by the “Caravan of the Charter”. The Milan City Council has officially joined the San Gimignano Charter by an OdG wich engages the Mayor and the City Council to support the Charter work in progress and its European path.
The Charter for the rights of MNSA comes to the City Council after been introduced at the conference “Insieme Senza Muri” (Together Without Walls) at Fabbrica del Vapore on the 26th May 2018 within the initiative “Da soli?” (Alone?) promoted and supported by AceA Onlus in the framework of the project “Attraversamenti – Luoghi, Arti e Culture” (Crossings – Places, Arts and Cultures) edited by Sergio di Giorgi and Giovanna Gammarota. The President of Equalities and Civil Rights Commission De Marchi has stated that in Italy the law n°47/7th April 2017 has strengthened the protection for the minors, but a coherent action at a European level is needed, so there are no differences in treatment and no inequities. She also added that, after the recent opening in Milan of a center for unaccompanied minors, the first in Italy that is open 7 day a week, day and night, it’s important that the city of Milan, so welcoming e so ready to take effective actions, drives the values of the Charter of San Gimignano in order to cooperate and to share goals and rules that underlie the reception and the defense of the rights of the minors in Europe. Even in this case, the Councilor Giunti said, the City of Milan is in the front line in the defense of the rights of minors and, in general, of all that come to seek for protection. He added that that the Charter of San Gimignano has to become the national reference for the unaccompanied minors’ aid.
The participation of the Municipality of Milano will give a boost to the acceptance e to the solidarity in the numerous partnerships within the movement related to the Charter (Municipalities, Regions, National Non Profit Organizations. Info: www.cartadisangimignano.eu).
The Carter is an initiative coordinated by the association Carretera Central and sponsored by the Municipality of San Gimignano, where it was conceived. In a time marked by a totally different trend, the Charter of San Gimignano is like a boat that slices through rough seas.
“I’m delighted to welcome – the Major of San Gimignano, Giacomo Bassi, states – the Milan’s prestigious joining to the journey of the Charter named after our City. We are convinced that the centers of art and culture, because of their ability to touch people’s soul, must play an active role to stand up for and revive the core values of our civilization, that are put into question by a growing selfish and negationist trend in the human rights field.”
The membership of Milan will put under the spotlight the project’s central issue: introducing to the European Institutions the rights of the numerous unaccompanied foreign minors that every year come to our land seeking for hope and receiving an unfair treatment and rejection.
After the accession of Milan, the “Charter” will be back to Europe to launch, on the occasion of the European Parliament Election, a campaign involving all the European citizens, the municipalities, and the local entities. The project goal is to obtain the approval by the Parliament in plenary session of the “ European Charter for the Rights of the Unaccompanied Migrant Minors” that leads the State Members to a specific and coherent regulation with reference to the current Italian legislation, the only example in the EU.
