CBCP supports bill on migrants, refugees

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People (CBCPECMI) has expressed support for a bill aimed at protecting the rights of refugees and stateless persons in the country.

“In certain advocacies that promotes the rights and the welfare of vulnerable people, the Church is always there because we want to uplift their living conditions,” said Fr. Restituto Ogsimer, executive secretary of the CBCP-ECMI.

Authored by Senator Leila de Lima, Senate Bill No. 1854 was launched during a holy mass held at the CBCP Chapel in Manila before it was filed in the Senate on World Refugee Day last June 20. According to De Lima, the country still lacks laws that set the criteria and fix the procedure in determining the status of refugees and stateless persons.

Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos, chairman of the CBCP-ECMI, earlier stressed the need to be more compassionate to migrants and refugees. “To welcome migrants is to welcome Jesus,” he said.

“Refugees are persons, not problems. They are people, not statistics, with personal history, stories of sacrifices and sufferings. To them, we must show our compassion and charity. To welcome them is to accept Jesus as He said, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed Me,’” said Santos, who is a member of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and the representative of the Asian region.

As of June 2017, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) said, there are around 65.6 million people around the world who were forcibly displaced including some 22.5 million refugees. In addition, the agency said, there are more than 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights including education, healthcare, employment, and freedom of movement.

Fr. Graziano Battistella, Scalabrini Migration Center director, said there are about 400 refugees in the Philippines, and around 200 still have pending refugee status.

“I believe the Philippines does not have enough resources to be a country of resettlement but it should not delay a comprehensive approach to the few who are seeking security and a new future,” he said.