ANDREA

“I live between nostalgia and happiness.” Andrea was born 34 years ago in Mérida, Venezuela. She had a normal life of family, study, and work. The political situation precipitated and forced so many to leave the country in a hurry (Venezuelan refugees in recent years are estimated at about 7.32 million, out of a population of about 28 million; in 2022 Venezuela ranked fourth in the world for forced exoduses after Syria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan).

“There was political persecution, poverty, huge shortage of medicine, of essential goods, so my husband, daughter and I left.”

She now lives in Mirano (VE) with her husband and daughter and is a museum guide at Palazzo Grassi.

The path to integration is not easy. “Starting,” she vents, “with the nightmare of the police headquarters where we have to go regularly to renew our permits. You are faced with people who do not know how to deal with those who, like us, are there out of extreme necessity. There is no humanity, you have no idea how they yell at you, as if you were the last piece of trash in history. I cannot demand humanity, but at least a minimum of respect. You feel scorned, as if you have committed a crime. Unfortunately, you have to accept. Wait from six months to six months to renew. And you live with this nightmare: if the commission doesn’t deem you worthy to stay, they send you back, and you don’t know what will become of your life.”

She finally got subsidiary protection.