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World News

Pope throws down gauntlet to world leaders with new migration call

by Tola Mbakwe

The Vatican has made a roadmap on how governments should approach the issue entitled Responding to Refugees and Migrants: Twenty Action Points.

In the plan which he describes as 'a sign of our times' he wants governments to act on several areas including:

o What can be done to support refugees who leave their countries and make it over the border into neighbouring countries
o How to help those who are travelling further e.g. the thousands of young men fleeing Eritrea
o How migrants in a new country can be supported and integrated.

The 'action points 'are aimed at galvanising governments into action ahead of two UN Global Compacts on Refugees and for Migration at the UN General Assembly in September 2018.

The Vatican's Migrants and Refugees Section, which strategized the plan made it clear that global community must welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees.

The Vatican called the document, one of the most politically and policy focused documents it has ever issued and is "unprecedented in its forensic look at what governments should be seeking in the global compacts".

The manifesto has called for greater support for countries which have borne the lion's share of migrants, many of which suffer from high levels of poverty themselves.

According to the UN, more than 56 per cent of the world's displaced people are living in Africa and the Middle East, with just 17 per cent present in Europe.

Graham Gordon, head of policy at CAFOD told Premier what it will take for the plan to work.

He said: "This will actually take governments to recognise the extent of the crisis."

The last time Pope Francis sought to influence the political process was on the issue of climate change. He was credited by the UN's Christiana Figures as having a 'major impact' on the process to agree the world's landmark deal on climate change.

However, Gordon admitted that the new migration and refugee strategy may be met with some resistance.

He told Premier: "Other countries maybe if they have more of sceptical approach to working with refugees, depending on what governments in place may see it as a threat or a challenge and may not be as amenable to it."

The pope's intervention is the latest in a series of challenges to politicians.

In February 2016, the Pope launched a veiled attack on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's pledge to ban Muslims from entering the US, stating that a person who builds walls rather than bridges "is not a Christian".

Gordon described the current refugee crisis as the worst yet and one that will get worse for 65 million displaced people due to impacts of climate change and unresolved conflict.

He told Premier how the Church can get involved: "Be praying about how we respond ourselves. Wherever we are there's going to be a person from another country and someone who has had to flee persecution.

"There's an awful lot that we can be doing just to welcome people into our own countries," he said.

Listen to Graham Gordon speaking with Premier's Tola Mbakwe here:

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