Terre des Hommes to relaunch migrant mental support work

(ANSA) - Catania, January 12 - The Terre des Hommes children's rights NGO is set to relaunch a psychological support programme for young people in migrant reception centres this week.
    The Ngo's Faro or "Lighthouse" programme is starting up again in centres including the CPSA in Pozzallo, near Ragusa in Sicily, which fellow NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) pulled out of at the end of last year, saying that lack of services and overcrowding were obstructing its work.
    Federica Giannotta from Terre des Hommes said her NGO understood MSF's reasons for leaving but that they had decided to prioritise the "interest and needs of hundreds of minors who pass through this centre".
    She said the young people at the centre were "highly vulnerable" and would be left without a useful and firm point of reference if Terre des Hommes withdrew its support.
    "In such a delicate context we believe it is important to be able to offer psychological support, orientation and a qualified listener that helps young migrants to not lose hope, control and strength," she said.