VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI appealed for fair treatment of the world’s refugees, saying they deserve to be welcomed with respect for their rights and human dignity.
At the same time, the Pope said refugees should show respect for the identity of their host countries. He made the remarks at the Vatican on June 20, which the United Nations marks as World Refugee Day.
The Pope said the annual day highlighted the plight of “all those who have been forced to leave their own land and family customs, arriving in environments that are often profoundly different”.
“Refugees desire to find welcome and to be recognised in their dignity and their fundamental rights. At the same time, they intend to offer their contribution to the society that welcomes them,” he said.
“Let us pray that, in a just and mutual relationship, their expectations have an adequate response, and that they demonstrate the respect they feel for the identity of the community that receives them,” he said.
Head of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travellers Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio said at a prayer vigil on June 17 that refugee movements in recent years have become “real humanitarian crises” of biblical proportions.
Often the refugee flow was aggravated by organised criminal activities, he said.
“We cannot be silent about the arrogant revival of the slave trade, which today involves about a million persons each year, destined for the markets of prostitution, forced labour, organ trafficking and underage sex,” he said.
He said poverty and the “enormous economic disparities” of today’s world were often motives for migration.
Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organisation for Catholic charities, highlighted the condition of women refugees, who it said were especially vulnerable to human rights abuses when they’ve been forced to leave their homes for long periods.
The organisation said that of about 10 million refugees in the world, about two-thirds were caught in crises of five years or longer.
Women make up 49 per cent of the refugee population, frequently fleeing conflicts in places like Colombia, Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan, and often living in unprotected camps.
Caritas called for better camp security, saying women were subject to violence inside the camps and when they leave to retrieve basic supplies such as water and firewood. It said measures should be taken to make it easier for women to report acts of violence and have access to judicial procedures.
