From Iraq to Prato’s Chinese, Asia helping Italian earthquake victims
Chinese communities in Prato and Florence deliver five vans with basic supplies sent to the affected areas, whilst Rome’s Filipino community is collecting money and medicines. In a letter to President Mattarella, the Tibetan Parliament expresses thanks for "Italy’s ever-strong support for the Tibetan issue”, says will try to do its best. In Erbil, displaced Iraqis in refugee camps raise money.
Rome (AsiaNews) – Refugees from the plain of Nineveh, who fled the murderous madness of the Islamic State and have been living for years in tent cities and refugee camps, have launched a fundraising on behalf of the victims and survivors of the earthquake that struck central Italy on 24 August, said Bishop Bashar Warda, who spoke to the director of Caritas Italy Fr Francesco Soddu about the initiative.
Once raised, the money will go to Amatrice, Accumoli del Tronto and Pescara, devastated by a 6.4 quake that brought down dozens of buildings at 4 am.
The official death toll has almost reached 300, whilst about 250 have been pulled from the rubbles alive.
Rescue workers are still at work and will not stop until everyone known to have been in the towns is not found. The gesture of Iraqi refugees, said Fr Soddu, "is moving in its generosity. Even if they raised only ten euros, those funds help in a way that I cannot measure.”
However, Asian solidarity does not stop in Iraq. About 20 young people from the Chinese communities in Prato and Florence left for the quake zone with food bought wholesale and mattresses and blankets provided by Chinese-owned factories in Campi Bisenzio and Osmannoro.
With five rented vans, after contacting Misericordia della Toscana (Mercy of Tuscany) and preparing a big solidarity banner, they reached the disaster area where they handed out basic necessities. They all wore a white T-shirt that said ‘Chinese Florentines for Amatrice. Pray for Amatrice’.
Rome’s Filipino community is also involved in raising funds and collecting medicines to help survivors. “All the money and food that will be collected will go to Caritas Rome. We hope we can do enough,” said the group's chaplain, Fr Ricky Gente.
In Manila, Card Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of the capital and president of Caritas Internationalis, has expressed his sorrow for what happened. "I call on all Filipinos to join me in prayer for those who are suffering."
In Dharamsala (India), the President of the Tibetan Parliament in exile wrote to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
“On behalf of all the Tibetans in and outside Tibet, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile expresses our condolence to all the victims of the recent earthquake in Central Italy that has taken so many lives.”
“We are thankful of Italy’s ever-strong support for the Tibetan Issue. In such period of hardship, our solidarity is with you and your people.”
AsiaNews also received messages of condolences from a number of prominent Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist leaders across Asia offering their prayers for the Italian people touched by the earthquake.
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