Vatican envoy reminds UN: war is main reason for emigration
May 23, 2017
The Vatican’s representative at UN headquarters in New York has reminded his colleagues that warfare is by far the single most important factor contributing to mass migration.
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Archbishop Bernardito Auza made his point in an address to a session on “drivers of migration.” He recalled that the UN has made a commitment to addressing conditions that prompt people to flee from their homes.
“There is no worse human-made crisis that drives people forcibly to migrate or internally displaces populations than wars and violent conflicts,” the archbishop observed. He added that “extreme poverty, the lack of basic goods and services, and severe environmental degradation and disasters” are also factors, but not on the same scale as armed conflict.
To reduce migration, then, the most effective step would be to eliminate warfare, the archbishop said. “If conditions for a decent life are met, and the drivers of migration are adequately addressed, people would not feel forced to leave their homes.”
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
May. 24, 2017 9:00 PM ET USA
I am glad to see that someone at the Vatican has his priorities in right order. Yes, "'extreme poverty, the lack of basic goods and services, and severe environmental degradation and disasters' are also factors, but not on the same scale as armed conflict." This is exactly right. Social evils pale in comparison with the evils worked at the point of a gun.
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
May. 24, 2017 7:23 PM ET USA
The Archbishop makes a good point. Unfortunately dictators don't care and Islamic Terrorists would like their enemies to leave.
