Pope Francis: Migrant Children Must Be ‘Welcomed And Protected’
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 15th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Pope Francis: Migrant Children Must Be ‘Welcomed And Protected’
“This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected,” Pope Francis said.
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CREDIT: AP
Pope Francis directly addressed the growing crisis surrounding unaccompanied children on the U.S. border this morning, speaking up on behalf of the young immigrants and calling on the international community to do more to care for their needs.
In a message sent to the Mexico-Holy See Colloquium on Migration and Development, the first Argentinian pope called for an immediate humanitarian response for the roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minors who have crossed the U.S. border this year.
“I would also like to draw attention to the tens of thousands of children who migrate alone, unaccompanied, to escape poverty and violence: This is a category of migrants from Central America and Mexico itself who cross the border with the United States under extreme conditions and in pursuit of a hope that in most cases turns out to be vain,” he said. “They are increasing day by day. This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected.”
Francis also noted that, in addition to a robust relief effort by those on the U.S. side of the border, the international community should also move to address the vicious cycles of violence and poverty that are spurring the children to flee their countries of origin.
“These measures, however, will not be sufficient, unless they are accompanied by policies that inform people about the dangers of such a journey and, above all, that promote development in their countries of origin,” he said. “Finally, this challenge demands the attention of the entire international community so that new forms of legal and secure migration may be adopted.”
Since ascending to the papacy last year, Pope Francis has made immigrant populations and their struggles a central focus of his ministry. His first official trip outside the Vatican was to Lampedusa, an island in the southern Mediterranean that harbors African migrants seeking passage to Europe. There he met with immigrants and later tweeted, “We pray for a heart which will embrace immigrants. God will judge us upon how we have treated the most needy.” On the World Day of Migrants and Refugees in September 2013, he condemned human trafficking, saying “Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.” He also surprised 2,000 immigrant residents at the Dono di Maria shelter near the Vatican with Christmas gifts last year, offering them care packages and prepaid phone cards so they could contact their families over the holidays.
Pope Francis has also had personal encounters with America’s immigration issues. While leading mass the day before he was scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama in March, Francis was approached by a 10-year-old girl who pleaded with the pontiff to address the rise in deportations of immigrants under the Obama administration. Francis reportedly responded by blessing the girl, and promised to speak with the President about her concerns.
Catholic groups such as Catholic Charities, along with many other faith-based groups, are already playing an active role in the effort to provide care and shelter for unaccompanied immigrant children on the border. However, many are reportedly already overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids, and are urging the President and Congress to do more to help with the crisis. The pope, for his part, is considering a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2015.
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Foreign Governments Consider Reverting To Typewriters To Thwart NSA Surveillance
Some European countries are reverting back to typewriters to shield their governments from the U.S. National Security Agency.
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Russia and Germany may be rejecting digital technology, instead turning to handwritten notes and typewriters for official government communications in an effort to keep U.S. government surveillance at bay.
In a television broadcast, German politicians said members in the Bundestag — Germany’s parliament — are strongly considering dropping email altogether, opting for typewriters and penned notes to prevent the United States’ National Security Agency from eavesdropping, the Guardian reported Tuesday. Russian government officials also said last week they were reverting to paper communications. The FSO, an agency that protects the Kremlin government and other top officials, has already ordered nearly two dozen typewriters, according to USA Today.
“Any information can be taken from computers,” former head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, the domestic successor the KGB, Nikolai Kovalev, told Izvestia. “[F]rom the point of view of keeping secrets, the most primitive method is preferred: a human hand with a pen or a typewriter.”
The move to typewriters reflects a waning trust in the U.S., where many overseas doubt the nation is as free as it claims. According to a new Pew Research survey, the NSA surveillance scandal has caused a drop in the world’s view that America champions its citizens’ personal liberties. Sixty-two percent of respondents said that U.S. surveillance of its own citizens is unacceptable. Another 81 percent disapprove of U.S. surveillance in their home country.
Privacy concerns have escalated across Europe after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden released documents in last year that unveiled the agency’s expansive global surveillance program. Tensions peaked when Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had bugged the phone of Germany’s Social Democrat chancellor in 2002 and its current chancellor, Angela Merkel, last year. European governments have taken extra precautions as a result, launching several investigations to find out the extent of NSA spying and scrutinizing U.S.-based tech companies that collect or house European citizens’ data.
Tech companies have also experienced significant backlash since last year’s document leaks spotlighted the agency’s backdoor access to consumer emails, private messages and phone data collected and housed by companies such as Google and Facebook. To quell privacy concerns, tech companies have become outspoken against the NSA’s spying, releasing reports on government and law enforcement data requests in the U.S. and abroad. The most recent NSA revelations released earlier this month didn’t help matters, showing that 90 percent of the emails and online messages the NSA collected were from private citizens and not terrorist suspects.
But even with strides to be more transparent, European governments bristle at the NSA’s considerable access to consumers’ information worldwide. Last month, Germany announced plans to end its contract with U.S. wireless carrier Verizon because of legal requirements “to provide certain things to the NSA,” according to the German Interior Ministry.
The European Union’s high court is also expected to decide whether Facebook illegally let the NSA spy on European users after an Irish judge questioned whether its citizens’ data stored on servers in the U.S. fell victim to snooping. If the court rules against Facebook, it could mean any company that gave the NSA backdoor access through its controversial PRISM program — namely Google, Microsoft and Apple — submit to stricter privacy protections such as getting users’ permission before collection or storing personal data and storing users’ data on European soil.
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