Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Tunis (Fides Service)- Migration and human trafficking was the topic discussed at a Caritas MONA meeting in Tunis which opened Monday 11 May. Caritas MONA which comprises 16 countries of the Middle East, Horn of Africa and North Africa is one of 7 regional Caritas structures.
“Migration is a major problem today. The Catholic Church has been concerned with the matter since 1970 when Pope Paul VI published document with the title Pastoralis Migratorum Cura. Since then many things have changed but the position of the Church remains the same. Our objective is to help solve problems connected with migration and immigration” Claudette Habesh President of Caritas MONA, said in her opening address.
To update the activity of the Church in the light of new problems in this field in 2004 the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples published a document “Sharing Christ’s Charity with Migrants”.
The most serious problem is human trafficking. “This trafficking involves mainly women and children many of whom are forced into prostitution and this is a question of violation of human rights which involved at least 2 million people every year” said Claudette Habesh. The 16 national Caritas members of MONA have decided to discuss the serious problem with representatives of national Caritas offices of Austria, France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, US and New Zealand.
At the beginning of the meeting the participant commemorated the late Archbishop Fouad Al Hage of Tripoli in the Lebanon, former President of Caritas Internationalis who died on May 4after a long illness. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/5/2005 righe 27 parole 287)
