WORLD DAY FOR MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
Acccording to the latest official bulletin of UNHCR (The United Nations
High Commission for Refugees) more than 45
million people are either refugees or have been forcibly removed from their
homes. This figure shows a dramatic
increase in the number of displaced people since the beginning of the
century. These refugees are mostly from
Syria, Mali, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. War continues to be the main reaon for this situation.
“ Each time
you blink, another person has had to flee from her/his home. This means that 23,000 more people are
displaced each day” explains Antonio Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees in
Geneva.
The Pope has written the following message for this 100th World Day:
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE
FRANCIS
FOR THE WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES (2014)
Migrants and Refugees: Towards
a Better World
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Our societies are experiencing, in an unprecedented
way, processes of mutual interdependence and interaction on the global level.
While not lacking problematic or negative elements, these processes are aimed
at improving the living conditions of the human family, not only economically,
but politically and culturally as well. Each individual is a part of humanity
and, with the entire family of peoples, shares the hope of a better future.
This consideration inspired the theme I have chosen for the World Day of
Migrants and Refugees this year: Migrants and Refugees: Towards a Better
World.
In our changing world, the growing phenomenon of human
mobility emerges, to use the words of Pope Benedict XVI, as a “sign of the
times” (cf. Message for the 2006
World Day of Migrants and Refugees). While it is
true that migrations often reveal failures and shortcomings on the part of States
and the international community, they also point to the aspiration of humanity
to enjoy a unity marked by respect for differences, by attitudes of acceptance
and hospitality which enable an equitable sharing of the world’s goods, and by
the protection and the advancement of the dignity and centrality of each human
being.
From the Christian standpoint, the reality of
migration, like other human realities, points to the tension between the beauty
of creation, marked by Grace and the Redemption, and the mystery of sin.
Solidarity, acceptance, and signs of fraternity and understanding exist side by
side with rejection, discrimination, trafficking and exploitation, suffering
and death. Particularly disturbing are those situations where migration is not
only involuntary, but actually set in motion by various forms of human
trafficking and enslavement. Nowadays, “slave labour” is common coin! Yet
despite the problems, risks and difficulties to be faced, great numbers of
migrants and refugees continue to be inspired by confidence and hope; in their
hearts they long for a better future, not only for themselves but for their
families and those closest to them.
What is involved in the creation of “a better world”?
The expression does not allude naively to abstract notions or unattainable
ideals; rather, it aims at an authentic and integral development, at efforts to
provide dignified living conditions for everyone, at finding just responses to
the needs of individuals and families, and at ensuring that God’s gift of
creation is respected, safeguarded and cultivated. The Venerable Paul VI
described the aspirations of people today in this way: “to secure a sure food
supply, cures for diseases and steady employment… to exercise greater personal
responsibility; to do more, to learn more, and have more, in order to be more”
(Populorum Progressio, 6).
Our hearts do desire something “more”. Beyond greater
knowledge or possessions, they want to “be” more. Development cannot be reduced
to economic growth alone, often attained without a thought for the poor and the
vulnerable. A better world will come about only if attention is first paid to
individuals; if human promotion is integral, taking account of every dimension
of the person, including the spiritual; if no one is neglected, including the
poor, the sick, prisoners, the needy and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:31-46);
if we can prove capable of leaving behind a throwaway culture and embracing one
of encounter and acceptance.
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard
of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to
leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for
knowing and having, but above all for being more. The sheer number of people
migrating from one continent to another, or shifting places within their own
countries and geographical areas, is striking. Contemporary movements of
migration represent the largest movement of individuals, if not of peoples, in
history. As the Church accompanies migrants and refugees on their journey, she
seeks to understand the causes of migration, but she also works to overcome its
negative effects, and to maximize its positive influence on the communities of
origin, transit and destination.
While encouraging the development of a better world,
we cannot remain silent about the scandal of poverty in its various forms.
Violence, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization, restrictive approaches
to fundamental freedoms, whether of individuals or of groups: these are some of
the chief elements of poverty which need to be overcome. Often these are
precisely the elements which mark migratory movements, thus linking migration
to poverty. Fleeing from situations of extreme poverty or persecution in the
hope of a better future, or simply to save their own lives, millions of persons
choose to migrate. Despite their hopes and expectations, they often encounter
mistrust, rejection and exclusion, to say nothing of tragedies and disasters
which offend their human dignity.
The reality of migration, given its new dimensions in
our age of globalization, needs to be approached and managed in a new,
equitable and effective manner; more than anything, this calls for
international cooperation and a spirit of profound solidarity and compassion.
Cooperation at different levels is critical, including the broad adoption of
policies and rules aimed at protecting and promoting the human person. Pope
Benedict XVI sketched the parameters of such policies, stating that they
“should set out from close collaboration between the migrants’ countries of
origin and their countries of destination; they should be accompanied by
adequate international norms able to coordinate different legislative systems
with a view to safeguarding the needs and rights of individual migrants and
their families, and at the same time, those of the host countries” (Caritas in Veritate, 62). Working together for a better world requires that countries help one
another, in a spirit of willingness and trust, without raising insurmountable
barriers. A good synergy can be a source of encouragement to government leaders
as they confront socioeconomic imbalances and an unregulated globalization,
which are among some of the causes of migration movements in which individuals
are more victims than protagonists. No country can singlehandedly face the
difficulties associated with this phenomenon, which is now so widespread that
it affects every continent in the twofold movement of immigration and
emigration.
It must also be emphasized that such cooperation
begins with the efforts of each country to create better economic and social
conditions at home, so that emigration will not be the only option left for
those who seek peace, justice, security and full respect of their human
dignity. The creation of opportunities for employment in the local economies
will also avoid the separation of families and ensure that individuals and
groups enjoy conditions of stability and serenity.
Finally, in considering the situation of migrants and
refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world,
namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to
migration. Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons,
asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a
fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be
lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal
activity will increase. The communications media have a role of great
responsibility in this regard: it is up to them, in fact, to break down
stereotypes and to offer correct information in reporting the errors of a few
as well as the honesty, rectitude and goodness of the majority. A change of
attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone,
moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and
marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based
on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more
just and fraternal world. The communications media are themselves called to
embrace this “conversion of attitudes” and to promote this change in the way
migrants and refugees are treated.
I think of how even the Holy Family of Nazareth
experienced initial rejection: Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no
place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew what it
meant to leave their own country and become migrants: threatened by Herod’s
lust for power, they were forced to take flight and seek refuge in Egypt (cf. Mt 2:13-14). But the maternal heart of Mary and the compassionate heart of
Joseph, the Protector of the Holy Family, never doubted that God would always
be with them. Through their intercession, may that same firm certainty dwell in
the heart of every migrant and refugee.
The Church, responding to Christ’s command to “go and
make disciples of all nations”, is called to be the People of God which
embraces all peoples and brings to them the proclamation of the Gospel, for the
face of each person bears the mark of the face of Christ! Here we find the
deepest foundation of the dignity of the human person, which must always be
respected and safeguarded. It is less the criteria of efficiency, productivity,
social class, or ethnic or religious belonging which ground that personal
dignity, so much as the fact of being created in God’s own image and likeness
(cf. Gen 1:26-27) and, even more so, being children of God. Every human
being is a child of God! He or she bears the image of Christ! We ourselves need
to see, and then to enable others to see, that migrants and refugees do not
only represent a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be
welcomed, respected and loved. They are an occasion that Providence gives us to
help build a more just society, a more perfect democracy, a more united
country, a more fraternal world and a more open and evangelical Christian
community. Migration can offer possibilities for a new evangelization, open
vistas for the growth of a new humanity foreshadowed in the paschal mystery: a
humanity for which every foreign country is a homeland and every homeland is a
foreign country.
Dear migrants and refugees! Never lose the hope that
you too are facing a more secure future, that on your journey you will
encounter an outstretched hand, and that you can experience fraternal
solidarity and the warmth of friendship! To all of you, and to those who have
devoted their lives and their efforts to helping you, I give the assurance of
my prayers and I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 5 August 2013
FRANCIS