Pope Francis appeals anew for world’s refugees

IN his talk to ambassadors from 180 nations at the Vatican last Monday, Pope Francis retold the story of Moses who led his people out of their bondage in Egypt to their promised land. Pursued by the pharaoh’s army, they crossed the Red Sea and eventually reached “a land flowing with milk and honey” to begin a new life.

The ambassadors were members of the Diplomatic Corps of the Vatican and the Pope, as head of state, was speaking out on a basic part of its foreign policy – that, like the people of the Ten Commandments of old, today’s migrants and refugees, who are crossing the Mediteranean to flee conflict, persecution, and poverty, deserve international protection and help.

The Pope was moved to speak out once again for the world’s refugees in the wake of growing resistance in some countries to the coming of so many refugees from the conflict in the Middle East as well as the desperation of their lives in other countries. In the United States, presidential candidate Donald Trump called on the US government to turn away Muslim refugees from Syria after a Muslim couple, inspired by the Islamic State‘s war in Syria, killed 14 people in a social services center in San Bernardino, California. And in Germany, local people began to question Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policy of acceptance of refugees, after some crimes were attributed to some refugees in Bonn.

There are indeed fears in many countries of the world today that the extremism of the jihadist movement may reach their shores. In our own country, there have been reports linking certain armed groups in Mindanao to the Islamic State, that there is even recruitment taking place in some areas of the South. Such fears may call for remedial action in the specific areas concerned, but they should not stop the continuing search for peace and understanding in Mindanao and other conflict areas today.

On the greater world stage, Pope Francis’ appeal should be heeded by those world leaders and peoples who may feel threatened by the surge of refugees. The Pope acknowledged that these countries have legitimate fears about their security but these fears, he said, should not result in Europe losing the values of solidarity and humanity.