Humanitarian Corridors: Solidarity, Security, and Legality in Handling the Refugee Crisis

Our contemporary world is marked by global disorder, similar to a ‘Third World War fought piecemeal’. The number of armed conflicts is on the rise and so is the number of refugees. Fleeing violence and misery, they are abused by human traffickers and tens of thousands lose their lives in the Mediterranean or the Sahara. The EU, UN, and governments have been struggling to find an institutional answer. There is room for innovative ideas. This study presents the ‘humanitarian corridors’, designed by the Community of Sant’Egidio and implemented by flexible coalitions of public and private subjects, including religious communities, NGOs, and families. The purpose of the corridors is to save lives and establish a ‘best practice’ combining solidarity, legality, and security for migrants and host country alike. The corridors operate in a clear division of labour between state authorities and civil society. Sant’Egidio and other proposing organizations receive quotas from governments, which they fill with asylum seekers, selected from the most vulnerable among them in refugee camps in Lebanon, Libya, Ethiopia, etc. The consular authorities issue the necessary entry visas, after appropriate security checks. Once in the host country, the authorities decide on their asylum claims. Their travel costs and essential needs during an initial period in the host country are covered by the sponsoring entities. Ghettoization is avoided. The state budget is not involved. Nor do humanitarian corridors require new legislation: they make use of existing national and EU laws. At present, Italy, France, and Belgium have humanitarian corridors in place, based on memoranda of understanding signed by the respective governments, Sant’Egidio, and other partner organizations. This study presents some of the MoUs.