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INTENTION : |
That immigrants and refugees may find welcome and respect in the countires to which they come/arrive.
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Yasmine was 12 when she migrated with her parents from Algeria to France. Miguel was 19 when he attempted to migrate from Honduras to the United States for the third time. Valdi recently fled Burma with his 3 children and sought protection in a refugee camp in Thailand. By the time Asya turned 23, she had lived in eight countries. At 67 Li left China and went to live with her daughter in England. I was 16 when, in danger, I fled Colombia to Miami and 22 when I moved with my family to Canada because the US did not grant us protection.
Immigration is about the struggles and dreams of people who journey towards better days. It is about the quests of ordinary people who leave their homes in search of peace and hope. Both immigrants and refugees will tell you about leaving loved ones behind, making new friends, and dealing with disappointments and setbacks. But there are differences too. Immigrants leave their home country to settle in another; refugees flee their home country because of oppression or danger. Environmental refugees relocate because their homes have been destroyed in a natural disaster or because their livelihoods have been affected by climate change.
The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that in 2012 the number of people in displacement was 45 million - the highest in 14 years. The number of migrants also rose - it went from 150 million in 1990 to 232 million in 2013. Not just wealthy countries are rapidly changing as a result of migrants. Developing countries have also seen a sharp increase of migrants.
Many people migrate as temporary migrant workers. Lacking permanent status and isolated, they are vulnerable to exploitation. Others migrate without following a country's established procedures for immigration and live with the fear of deportation. Poverty among those in undocumented communities worldwide is driven by the fact that they are forced to work without benefits, protection, or adequate wages.
Citizens in many countries want their governments to provide ways for undocumented workers to gain legal status. People in "developed" countries risk being selfish in their efforts to control the entry of immigrants and refugees. Fear seems to drive their desire to exclude newcomers. They see immigrants as competitors for jobs, goods and services, and as threats to their own quality of life.
We Christians are called to care for immigrants and refugees. The Church responds to Christ's call to "welcome the stranger among us" and to recognize that immigrants and refugees are our sisters and brothers. We are called to hear the voices and the stories of people on the move. The Crucified and Risen Lord commands us to open our hearts to the immigrants and refugees in our midst, for through them we encounter Christ.
In caring for migrants, we feel what the Heart of Christ feels. We learn to love them as He loves them, to see them as He does, and to be present with them as He is.
Santiago Rodriguez, SJ
Youth Director at the Apostleship of Prayer in the United States
He used to work with Jesuit Refugee and Migrant Service in Toronto.
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