The Role Of NGO's Welcoming Spirit In Migrants Integration Process

The "refugee crisis" and the big amount of immigrants are challenging the management capacity of European Countries,different governments are applying emergency policies,especially the two countries situated on the EU border,Italy and Greece.Media,politicians and a part of academics are mainly focused on security,economic and social conflict issues,reflections about how to improve social integration of migrants are lacking,and the Italian Government which is not able to manage effectively the reception of migrants,is even more unable to provide services related to language education,cross-cultural communication,and social integration.In this situation,civil citizens and local NGOs,which are more sensible about the human rights of migrants,are compensating the lack of governmental assistance.In Rome,60%of the language education,which is indispensable for migrants social integration process,is conducted by Rete Scuole Migranti(Migrants school network),94 organizations of volunteers or of social promotion,cultural associations,and parish churches are providing free Italian language lessons for migrants.This thesis focuses on the second biggest school of the network,Focus-Casa dei Diritti Sociali(House of Social Rights,CDS henceforth),through six months of fieldwork I identified the values behind the school,cultural activities and the behaviour of volunteers,I defined as Welcoming spirit(Spirito d'accoglienza)the attitude of volunteers toward migrants and I analysed the role of inclusiveness of the school and the emotional bond between migrant students and volunteers during the process of social integration.I argue that,unlike governmental institutions,the face-to-face communication and the equal treatment adopted by CDS are surely factors that improve the relationships between migrant students and volunteers,and furthermore,the positive relationships have the power to create a secure place for migrants,a foothold inside a hostile society,where they can experience the first step of a cross-cultural communication.Moreover,the understanding of volunteers about the real needs of migrants is helpful for finding effective solutions and for discovering the capacity of migrants,so that volunteers can sustain them in gaining an independent life.