The Jesuit Migrant Network of Latin America and the Caribbean recently published a statement on the importance of understanding the causes of the so-called “Migrant Caravan,” the fact that the security of the migrants is mainly what’s at stake, and the need to promote a culture of hospitality and solidarity with those fleeing situations of extreme poverty and generalized violence.
In the face of media portrayals that dehumanize and criminalize migrants, the Jesuit Migrant Network invites us to see and contemplate the faces and the lives of those who are walking in search of a more dignified future. They are the faces of the nearly million children who are excluded from the educational system. They are the faces of youth who in employment age find themselves amongst the 60% who are unable to find a job or have a minimum wage; who find that 40 youth like them are murdered every month. They are the faces of women who know that every 16 hours someone like them is killed. They are the faces of human and environmental rights defenders who find themselves in one of the most dangerous countries in the world to exercise their freedom.
This report calls on the need for “transparency, coordination and dialogue” with migrants and human rights defenders, the need for “truthful and objective information” for civil society and the public opinion, and the call for concrete actions to build paths of hospitality, following the words of Pope Francis: to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees.
Our colleagues at Fe y Alegría Honduras also published the statement “Nuestra solidaridad” translated below in English.
To learn more:
Updates from RJM on the “Central American Exodus”
To learn what Jesuit networks around the world are doing to promote a culture of hospitality:
Our Solidarity
Fe y Alegría Honduras, member of the International Federation of Fe y Alegría and a work of the Society of Jesus, seeks to express our grave concern regarding the humanitarian crisis that has been growing in Honduras and has led to the mass exodus of thousands of migrants headed towards Mexico and the United States. A human drama, which beyond the fatigue, pain, thirst and hunger, that puts at risk the lives of people who have suffered exclusion over the years and who are now forced to flee.
We regret the negligence and cynicism of the government authorities, politicians and businesses that seek to justify this reality by promoting lies and misinformation. It is a shame that the focus of the problem is on the loss of prestige among political parties, social classes and opposition groups, leaving forgotten the search for a solution to a real problem and attacking the causes that have created this drama, such as extreme poverty, the lack of opportunities, the violation of human rights, violence, corruption, impunity and a system that generates poverty and exclusion.
As Fe y Alegría, we call on society in general to understand the problem that we are living and to act in solidarity with the victims of this crisis; to play an active role by demanding a solution from government authorities and to avoid at all costs being accomplices in the face of this human drama by remaining passive.
Finally, from this bleeding Honduras, we thank the thousands of people in Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and other countries that are acting in solidarity with our fellow migrant citizens. At the same time, we call on governments and authorities in these transit and destination countries to guarantee the integrity and the rights as people of our Honduran brothers and sisters.
The team at Fe y Alegría Honduras
