ROME — The Vatican said Wednesday that migrants and refugees are subject to “numerous types of injustice and discrimination” and deserve special attention during the coronavirus pandemic.
“During this COVID-19 pandemic period, migrants, refugees, displaced persons and victims of human trafficking are more than ever at the heart of our concerns,” the Vatican’s office for migrants and refugees states on its website. “Already vulnerable before the virus appeared, they are now subject to numerous types of injustice and discrimination that threaten their rights, their security and their health.”
The Vatican office has established a weekly news bulletin to keep readers informed about the problems encountered by migrants during the pandemic as well as proposed solutions “to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within and beyond their communities.”
“In the poorer corners of the globe — in refugee camps, slums and Indigenous communities — the Church is emerging as a critical line of defense against COVID-19,” the office states in this week’s issue of the bulletin.
The text highlights work being done by Catholic organizations around the globe, such as “a lifesaving humanitarian response” provided by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and local Caritas partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s eastern Tanganyika Province.
The program includes the distribution of food, household items, and tools to repair damaged homes, “while respecting social distancing and sensitizing communities on how to protect themselves against COVID-19.”
Similarly, the Commission for Migrants of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and the Archdiocese of Delhi have intervened to assist and protect stranded migrant workers, the bulletin states.
CCBI and its partners have been advocating for migrant workers’ rights, it says, “rallying politicians, lawmakers and eminent citizens to stand up for migrants.”
The organization has also distributed food kits to migrant workers and their families living in temporary, informal settlements in Delhi and at the border of the neighboring state of Faridabad, and all 124 Catholic parishes in the archdiocese of Mumbai have brought food to people in difficulty, allowing some 7,000 people to receive two meals a day.
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