The Pope has urged governments to help economic migrants travel to wealthy countries, to beat the “scourge” of human trafficking.
In a letter to the International Labour Conference, Francis said that mass migration was one of the “grave issues” confronting our world today.
He wrote to delegates meeting in Geneva this week: “Despite their hopes for a better future, they frequently encounter mistrust and exclusion, to say nothing of experiencing tragedies and disasters.”
Echoing a phrase he used on a visit last year to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a first port of call for many migrants seeking new lives in Europe, he said: “Having made such sacrifices, these men and women often … fall victim to a certain ‘globalisation of indifference'”, which exposes them to the dangers of forced labour and enslavement.
He warned: “Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime against the whole of humanity.”
Francis called for a “concerted effort … to encourage governments to facilitate the movement of migrants for the benefit of all, thus eliminating human trafficking and perilous travel conditions.”
The letter follows two shipwrecks in the Mediterranean earlier this month. A boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank 100 miles off the coast of Italy, killing at least 18 with dozens more unaccounted for. A few days earlier a second boat carrying 40 people sank off the coast of Libya.
Following the latest tragedies at sea, the Libyan Government said that they could not cope with numbers arriving at their borders from sub-Saharan African countries and would be forced to “facilitate” the movement of migrants to Europe.
But Italy, with its southern-most island of Lampedusa just 80 miles off the north African coast, is overwhelmed by the numbers arriving at its shores. It said that unless it receives more help with sea patrols, it would defy EU rules obliging migrants to stay in the country where they land and allow them to travel further into Europe.
Some 40,000 have made the crossing in recent months often on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. Hundreds of thousands more said to be awaiting a passage to Europe, in camps run by criminal gangs, on the coastline of Libya.
Francis, whose parents emigrated from Italy to Argentina in the 1920s, has emerged as a staunch defender of immigrants’ rights.
He met new arrivals during his visit to Lampedusa last year and called for residents to show migrants “brotherly responsibility” and has called for unused monasteries and convents to be used to accommodate them.
Read the full text of Francis' message below:
To Mr Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization:
At the dawn of creation, God made man the steward of his handiwork and charged him to cultivate and protect it. Human labour is part of that creation and continues God’s creative work. This truth leads us to consider work as both a gift and a duty. Indeed, labour is not a mere commodity but has its own inherent dignity and worth. The Holy See expresses its appreciation of the ILO’s contribution to upholding the dignity of human work in the context of social and economic development through discussion and cooperation between governments, labourers and employers. Such efforts serve the common good of the human family and promote the dignity of workers everywhere.
This Conference has been convened at a crucial moment of social and economic history, one which presents challenges for the entire world. Unemployment is tragically expanding the frontiers of poverty (cf. Address to the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, 25 May 2013). This is particularly disheartening for unemployed young people who can all too easily become demoralized, losing their sense of worth, feeling alienated from society. In working for greater opportunities for employment, we affirm the conviction that it is only “through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive work that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their life” (Evangelii Gaudium, 192).
Another grave and related issue confronting our world is that of mass migration: the sheer numbers of men and women forced to seek work away from their homelands is a cause for concern. Despite their hopes for a better future, they frequently encounter mistrust and exclusion, to say nothing of experiencing tragedies and disasters. Having made such sacrifices, these men and women often fail to find dignified work and fall victim to a certain “globalization of indifference”. Their situation exposes them to further dangers such as the horror of human trafficking, forced labour and enslavement. It is unacceptable that, in our world, slave labour has become common coin (cf. Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 24 September 2013). This cannot continue! Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime against the whole of humanity. It is time to join forces and work together to free its victims and to eradicate this crime that affects all of us, from individual families to the worldwide community (cf. Address to the New Ambassadors Accredited to the Holy See, 12 December 2013).
It is also time to reinforce existing forms of cooperation and to establish new avenues for expanding solidarity. This calls for: a renewed insistence on the dignity of every person; a more determined implementation of international labour standards; planning for a focused development on the human person as its central actor and primary beneficiary; a re-evaluation of the responsibilities of international corporations in the countries where they operate, including the areas of profit and investment management; and a concerted effort to encourage governments to facilitate the movement of migrants for the benefit of all, thus eliminating human trafficking and perilous travel conditions. Effective cooperation in these areas will be greatly assisted by defining future sustainable development goals. As I recently expressed to the Secretary General and Chief Executives of the United Nations: “Future sustainable development goals must therefore be formulated and carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more substantial results in protecting the environment, ensure decent work for all, and provide appropriate protection for the family, which is an essential element in sustainable human and social development.”
Dear Friends, the social teaching of the Catholic Church supports the initiatives of the ILO which aim to promote the dignity of the human person and the nobility of human labour. I encourage you in your efforts to face the challenges of today’s world in fidelity to these lofty goals. At the same time, I invoke God’s blessing on all that you do to defend and advance the dignity of work for the common good of our human family.
(Source: News.va)
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