"The road is not long to the house of a Friend."

One weekend in October, we had the honor of being invited to the wedding in Puglia of a young couple from our church. Brian and I were so blessed to be included with their family and friends in celebrating their union!  While we had a rental car (not owning one, on rare occasions we rent one), and finding ourselves in the southern regions in Italy, we felt led by the Lord to extend our trip further south to visit our friends, a married couple of refugees. "A and M" fled their homeland under Islamic Regime. They sought asylum in Belgium, where they came to faith in Jesus Christ. They began to establish a circle of friends and support. Desiring to be honest, they admitted having first entered Europe  through Italy. According to The Dublin Regulation, an asylum seeker must be processed in the very Member State through which the refugee entered the EU. So, A and M were ordered to Rome to be processed. Placed in another detention center, A and M linked up with fellow believers in Rome, and just were beginning to find friends and services to enrich their new lives as they waited on asylum. Alas, the authorities suddenly ordered them to be transferred to another residence designated for asylum seekers. Four hours away from Rome, that "residence" is one room in a small building shared with a dozen refugees situated in a tiny village in an extremely remote location in southern Basilicata. Such an "arrangement" is ostensibly made between mayors of poor villages who receive money from the State as compensation.

Getting to that village was comparable to finding a needle in a haystack; such a random, secluded, and desolate place. They are virtually cut off from any infrastructure or bureaucratic offices to advance their case. No bus, no train, no town within reach, no internet service. At least, the place is clean and decent, and institutional meals are delivered to the residence. In a great act of kindness so typical of Italians, a villager gifted A with a bicycle to get around the endless forests, olive groves, and low mountains as far as the eye can see.

The Dublin regulation was intended to facilitate and expedite the asylum process. However recent reports (‘Dublin II Regulation: Lives on Hold’) "show that the operation of the Dublin Regulation often acts to the detriment of refugees. Its application can cause serious delays in the examination of asylum claims, and can even result in asylum seekers’ claims never being heard. Areas of concern include the excessive use of detention to enforce transfers of asylum seekers, the separation of families, the denial of an effective opportunity to appeal against transfers and the limited use of the discretionary provisions within the Regulation to alleviate these and other problems. It also impedes integration of refugees by forcing them to have their claims determined in Member States with which they may have no particular connection."

In the few hours we spent with this precious couple, they showed great joy and gratitude for a personal visit, but could not hide their quiet desperation. We sat on the floor of their one room along with a couple of refugees from their homeland whose company gives them such comfort. We shared their daily hot meal (like a hospital meal), sipped Earl Grey tea (they had asked me to bring tea, so I was delighted to gather a teapot, tray, cups, and teabags to take to them). Then we read from God's Word and we prayed to the Father for justice, for deliverance, for peace.

 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. (Psalm 121 A Pilgrim's Song)

Photo of Basilicata region, Italy.