AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Sunday 16 September national Day for Migrants, Refugees, Displaced Persons concludes “Week for Peace”: almost 4 million mostly children displaced Colombians

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Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - Sunday 16 September in Columbia is national Day for Migrants, Refugees, Displaced Persons organised by the Catholic Bishops' National Office of Social Pastoral Care. For some years now in Colombia the third Sunday of September has been dedicated to reflection, prayer and action to help migrants, refugees and displaced persons. Also this week, 9-16 September, Catholics in Colombia are celebrating "Week for Peace 2007", a call to reflect on two themes interconnected: peace and forced human mobility.
This year's Message is a call to consider the situation of families who for different reasons have had to move away from their home or country. Moreover together with national and international organisations the local Church, wished the year 2007 to be "the year of the rights of displaced persons", to draw the attention of all people of goodwill to this sad situation which involves four million Colombians, mainly children.
According to data with regard to the national migratory situation supplied by the local Church, more than 3.5 million people have been forced to move to another part of the country and more than three million have had to leave the country mostly in search of work but also for fear of conflict, threats, extortion and hostage taking. More than half the family members forced to move are minors under 18 and a high percentage of these stop going to school to work to support the family. Most of the displaced Colombians over 18 years of age are women.
The greater part of displaced persons are from rural areas of the country forced to move to overcrowded urban areas with very different climate and customs. In this situation of great challenges the local Church works to promote lasting peace based on truth reconciliation and reparation. During its general assembly in February the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Colombia proposed a campaign to collect one million signatures to express solidarity with all Colombians forced because of violence to leave their homes. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 13/9/2007; righe 27, parole 394)