The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that since the eviction of Trieste’s silos, which once served as a makeshift shelter for people on the move, humanitarian conditions in the city have continued to deteriorate as winter approaches.
- Four months since the eviction, IRC teams have encountered more than 5,000 newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers, averaging 55 people per day.
- Families and unaccompanied children made up 40% of these encounters.
- Most people are arriving from Afghanistan, Syria, and Northern Kurdistan.
On 21 June, Italian police entered the so-called "silos," abandoned warehouses that served as a makeshift shelter for thousands of people who had arrived in the Italian city of Trieste through the Balkan Route. Although asylum seekers were supposed to be accommodated in a newly renovated reception facility in Campo Sacro, no construction work has taken place to date.
As a result, people are now forced to sleep rough on the streets of Trieste, no longer having even the little bit of roof over their heads the silos provided. Every night, around 100 people gather near the station, enduring inhumane conditions, exposed to cold and rain, and without access to toilets or food. Many of them are women and children.
Alessandro Papes, IRC Area Manager in Trieste, says:
“Trieste’s silos—used as a shelter for refugees and asylum seekers—should never have existed in the first place. No human being should be forced to live on bare ground in rat-infested, abandoned warehouses. The silos were a symptom of a larger crisis in the wider reception system, lacking adequate facilities to welcome newcomers in a humane, dignified way. Since the June eviction, the situation has only worsened, with people now sleeping rough in the streets.
“Every day, during IRC outreach activities, we encounter at least ten unaccompanied children who have just arrived in Trieste. Way too often, the children are already sick, and staying on the streets at the mercy of the weather only worsens their physical and mental health. Some struggle to walk due to the cold and injuries sustained from being on the road for months before reaching Trieste.
“People arriving via the Balkan route can no longer be abandoned on the streets, and urgent action is needed as winter approaches. The Italian authorities must ensure that all people transiting through Trieste can access the reception system and have a safe space to stay; that their basic needs are immediately met, and they can exercise their right to seek asylum.”
A full report highlighting the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Italian city of Trieste is available here.