Italian Aid Worker Returns Home After 18 Months In Captivity
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – A young Italian woman arrived in Italy after 18 long months as a hostage in eastern Africa, where she had been an aid worker. Silvia Romano, 24, returned from Somalia late Sunday to a homeland still suffering from the coronavirus pandemic that authorities claim killed more than 30,000 Italians and devastated the economy.
Wearing a surgical mask, disposable gloves, and booties to guard against the coronavirus disease COVID-19, she stepped off an Italian government plane at Rome-Ciampino International Airport. Romano briefly lowered her mask to smile and hugged her mother and other family members. But she touched elbows instead of shaking hands with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.
Her arrival ended an ordeal that began in November 2018 when she was abducted by gunmen in Kenya while volunteering for an Italian humanitarian group. Italian media reported that the abductors eventually passed her into the hands of militants linked to Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamic militants. Al-Shabab has been blamed for a series of kidnappings of foreigners along Kenya’s coast.
While in captivity, she reportedly converted to Islam, but it was unclear whether she was forced to do so. Neither her family nor Italian officials commented on the claims. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte thanked Italian intelligence agents who worked for her release, which took place Friday in Somalia. Romano was brought to the Italian Embassy in the Somalian capital Mogadishu after she was freed.
When she eventually got off the plane in Rome, Romano was seen wearing a loose-fitting garment over her hair and African outfit. Friends and acquaintances in the Milan neighborhood where Romano’s family lives applauded from windows, balconies, and on the streets when the plane carrying Romano home landed in Rome.
It was a hopeful moment in a nation where millions have been in lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. “The government never leaves anyone behind,” stressed Foreign Minister Di Maio.
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