POPE Francis has issued a global call for countries to welcome and protect vulnerable Afghans fleeing their homeland.
“In these troubled times that see Afghans seeking refuge,” he said during the Angelus, “I pray for the most vulnerable among them. I pray that many countries will welcome and protect those seeking a new life.”
Pope Francis said he is also praying for internally displaced persons in the country “that they may have assistance and the necessary protection.”
The Australian Government has allocated 3,000 humanitarian places for Afghan refugees within Australia’s annual program, well short of many nations including Canada that has already committed to 20,000 additional places.
On August 20 as the Taliban overran Kabul, Australian Catholic Bishop Conference president Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge sent a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposing that Australia boost its refugee intake to 20,000.
“Australia has stepped up before in response to significant humanitarian crises, and I urge your government to be generous,” he wrote, adding that Catholic agencies “stand ready to assist your government with resettlement of refugees as an expression of our great concern for the people of Afghanistan”.
Archbishop Coleridge made particular mention of Afghans who supported Australia’s defence personnel who served in Afghanistan, as well as religious minorities and women.
“There is a particular risk to women, and Australia’s humanitarian response should recognise and support their dignity and human rights.”
Religious leaders across Australia have joined the call for a special one-off refugee intake – similar to that announced by the Abbott government in 2015 when 12,000 places were allocated for Syrian refugees.
“With the Australian evacuations now finished, there has been this moral nagging question: what’s our responsibility having been a participant in the military campaign for 20 years?” executive director of Micah Australia Reverend Tim Costello said.
Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long said Australia has had a “long tradition of generously resettling refugees and displaced persons who flee their home countries due to war, conflict and violence”.
As well as more than 123,000 civilians evacuated by US forces and coalition partners after the Taliban took control it is estimated more than 550,000 Afghans have been forced to flee their homes this year due to fighting, according to the UNHCR.
