Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Gualeguaychú (Agenzia Fides) - There were about sixty participants at the XXVII Meeting of the "Diocese of Frontier, which this year had the theme of human trafficking. From May 21 to 23, representatives of the dioceses of the border of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, met in the city of Gualeguaychú, Argentina. The dioceses represented were: Bagé, Chapecó, Foz do Iguaçú, Santo Ângelo, Uruguaiana (Brazil), Encarnacion (Paraguay); Melo, Mercedes, Salto, Tacuarembó (Uruguay), Concordia, Goya, Posadas, Gualeguaychú (Argentina).
The final text of the meeting, of which a copy was sent to Fides Agency, underlines the reason of the meeting: "Prompted by a reality that hurts us, we gathered to share and reflect on the dignity of every human being, and assume a prophetic stance against human trafficking. " The text continues: "Human trafficking is aimed at commercial exploitation of the person for sexual purposes, for business or for the theft and sale of organs. It takes the form of organized crime and its structure is 'entrepreneurial', it manages a high mobility of people and considers the human being as a transferable good and market, according to the law of supply and demand. Its alarming growth is reflected in an annual movement of money that exceeds the traffic of weapons, making it the second most profitable criminal activity in the world after drug trafficking."
The Bishops explain very clearly that "This trafficking means involving a person, moving, forcing, selling, threatening, raping, using and getting rid of him/her. We speak of physical, psychological violence with deception or blackmail, sometimes with the assistance of relatives or persons with whom the victim is emotionally attached ... Child sex tourism works both in the area of the triple-border and in the main cities, provides adolescents and children for sexual services of foreigners. In many cases they are sold to other countries in America and Western Europe, according to the repeated complaints of the International Organization for Migration, of the International Labour Organization and civil society organizations that are fighting valiantly against these crimes."
After recalling this tragic reality, the document proposes Christian values as a sign of hope and the Church's commitment to fight against this difficult situation. Finally, the document signed on May 23, expresses the commitment of all participants to raise awareness of this terrible situation, to report cases, to promote the family as the first protection center, working alongside those who are already engaged in this field and to demonstrate this commitment together. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 24/5/2012)
