‘Migrants are not people to be feared,’ Vatican official emphasizes

October 19, 2015

In a statement made at the 8^th Global Forum on Migration and Development, the Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People warned against the “danger of discrimination, racism, extreme nationalism, or xenophobia.”

Speaking in Istanbul on October 15, Father Gabriele Bentoglio said that the Holy See wished to emphasize three points: that increasing migration “is the tangible evidence of the unjust distribution of the earth’s resources”; “migrants are not people to be feared”; and too many educated migrants “force themselves to accept low-skilled work in developed countries” and fall victim to “unethical recruitment practices, trafficking or smuggling.”

“There is no successful and long-lasting migration strategy without a parallel and comprehensive integration policy hinging on the human person as the subject primarily responsible for development,” Father Bentoglio added. “Although the influx of migrants and refugees seriously challenges the various societies that accept them, the dignity of the human person always takes precedence over partisan interests and economic considerations.”

 

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Further information:

• Statement by Rev. Fr. Gabriele F. Bentoglio, Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, at the 8 Global Forum on Migration and Development (Holy See Press Office)
• Global Forum on Migration and Development