Holy See: migrant minors, innocent victims of restrictive policies

 "More and more countries are adopting more restrictive policies in order to eliminate any form of migratory irregularity. Minors are often the innocent victims of such drastic measures." The Pope, instead, "insists on the duty to resolve and regularize the position of minor migrants".

"More and more countries are adopting more restrictive policies in order to eliminate any form of migratory irregularity. Minors are often the innocent victims of such drastic measures." The Pope, instead, "insists on the duty to resolve and regularize the position of minor migrants".

Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, spoke at the 2017 Summer School on the theme of migrant minors, held in Catanzaro - southern Italy - which concluded on Thursday (20/07).

Children and adolescents in migration processes

Promoted by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in collaboration, among others, with the Scalabrinian International Institute for Migration and the Migrants Foundation, this year's edition was centered on the theme of "Children and adolescents in migratory processes".

"Migration has become a global phenomenon and today many flows are the consequences of conflicts, persecution, climate change, violence, extreme poverty and inhumane living conditions," Fr. Baggio recalled.

Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable

"Emigrating today means facing great sacrifices and often children pay the highest price, especially when they emigrate alone," added the prelate. "Just by being foreigners, all migrants are effectively vulnerable. They are often neglected, discriminated against and marginalized. And among these, children and adolescents are the most vulnerable group" because they are "minors, because they are foreigners and because they are helpless".

Those in an irregular situation, for example, "often have to hide from the authorities and do not enjoy equal access to education and medical care," he said.

Children and adolescents victims of prostitution and pornography

The situation of unaccompanied minors is particularly precarious. Many children and adolescents fall into prostitution or pornography, become slaves to child labor or are recruited as soldiers, said the undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Vatican dicastery.

Pope Francis asks us to respond to these challenges with three verbs: "protect, integrate and seek lasting solutions".

Creating transnational protection and assistance networks

Hence the invitation to "adopt common and coordinated actions in the countries of origin, transit and destination in order to ensure that all migrant and refugee minors are always protected from any form of abuse", to an "exchange of information" and "cooperation between organizations and institutions, both religious and civil", through the "creation of transnational networks of protection and assistance". (RL/Sir)

Source: Vatican Radio

en_USEnglish
Skip to content