Refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe have been welcomed as a new breath of life in Italian towns left deserted by economic hardship and an ageing population. Training and integration efforts are funded in the town through the Italian government and its spending is managed by a community trust, pooling the money where it's most useful locally. Hundreds of refugees have settled in towns in the south of Italy that had shrunk to a fraction of their size, revitalising communities and services that were under threat.


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