ORS Annual Report 2020 English

Laura Mastronardi
Director Adliswil repatriation
centre (RKZ)
Joined ORS CH in 2015
‘As a manager, I bring my experience
to the table and work
with my team to try and make
the residents’ time with us as
pleasant as possible.’
A container settlement in Adliswil,
around 10 kilometres outside Zurich,
is temporary home to individuals
whose asylum application has been
officially rejected. The people who
live here – men, women and families
with children, a maximum of 140 in
total – have been instructed to leave
Switzerland. Laura Mastronardi is
responsible for managing the centre
where, despite the asylum seekers’
shattered hopes, the focus is on treating
people with humanity.
The year 2020 was certainly challenging.
The conclusion that Laura was
able to draw from dealing with the
pandemic and the associated protective
measures is that optimism,
flexibility and creativity go a long
way towards overcoming a problem.
Good team spirit, support within the
centres and good communication
between centre directors are equally
important in her working environment.
Laura feels that this is a key
benefit of working for ORS. She sees
the fact that she was appointed to run
the centre in 2020 as a sign of trust of
the other repatriation centres in the
Zurich cantonal mandate and longterm
colleagues from other support
facilities in Switzerland. She hopes to
be a good role model and to be able to
make fair, comprehensible and transparent
decisions.
‘Good experiences
make us stronger. But
overcoming tricky
situations that take us
out of our comfort zone
can also have a positive
impact on us.’
To unwind and recharge her batteries,
she likes to spend time in the
great outdoors and is a keen sportswoman.
Her personal philosophy is
one of idyllic coexistence between all
individuals.
‘It is only when we
recognise that there are
fewer differences
between us than our
ego would like to
believe that we begin to
treat our fellow human
beings as equals.’
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