Monasteries, mafia properties and earthquake cabins: Italy gets creative to house Ukrainian refugees

The Italian government and volunteers have mobilised to accommodate the tens of thousands of refugees who are arriving from Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, reports Sofia Barbarani in Rome

The Ukrainian community of Naples protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Naples, southern Italy, 20 March 2022 (EPA-EFE)

Local governments in Italy’s Marche region are calling for Ukrainian refugees to be housed in some of the emergency accommodation set up to shelter Italian families displaced by a series of deadly earthquakes in 2016.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth week, nearly 3.5 million people have fled from the country, and more than 50,000 of them have sought safety in Italy, including 25,846 women, 20,478 children and 4,325 men, according to the Italian interior ministry.

While most refugees are expected to resettle in major cities such as Milan, Rome, Naples and Bologna, some have reached smaller towns and villages in Umbria, Marche, and northern Lazio, where six years ago a magnitude 6.0 earthquake devastated entire cities, uprooting tens of thousands of people and killing hundreds.