November 17, 2022
Magis Americas Staff

The Jesuit Network with Migrants – LAC (RJM-LAC) held its first Continental Assembly in three years under the slogan “The future will be one of hope if we build it together.” The assembly, which brought together individuals from over 80 educational institutions, parishes, and organizations, was held in Bogotá, Colombia from November 7-11, 2022. Magis Americas, in addition to other Xavier Network members Canadian Jesuits International, ALBOAN, and Entreculturas, participated as an invited guest.

On the final day of the assembly, RJM-LAC proposed and approved a statement which calls on all actors, from civil society to States and UN bodies, to ensure the rights and dignity of migrants in the Americas. In the statement RJM-LAC:

  • Demands States to respect and guarantee the human rights and dignity of migrants, restoring the right to asylum and promoting realistic alternatives for migratory regularization that facilitate regional integration and access to rights for migrants.
  • Calls on United Nations agencies to strengthen their mandate to articulate a comprehensive response.
  • Urges international cooperation agencies to support and promote local agendas that respond to the real needs of migrants and their families.
  • Calls on civil society to understand the positive role of migration in communities.

RJM-LAC also uses the statement as an opportunity to publicly reaffirm its commitment, and the commitment of its members, to “boldly and creatively … welcome, protect, promote, and integrate migrants”. Specifically, RJM-LAC commits to:

  • Strengthen closeness and accompaniment to migrants and their families, promoting their leadership in the transformation proposals towards a migration with dignity.
  • Promote actions of solidarity, hospitality, and reconciliation in the communities that eradicate racism, discrimination, and xenophobia.
  • Influence to transform those policies that hurt the human family represented in migrants and promote regional, national, and local migration governance with a human rights approach.
  • Promote a critical, deep, and close understanding of the migratory realities that call us.
  • Contribute generously to the interaction with other organizations and networks in which we share common horizons.

The statement closes with words from Pope Francis, who urged in the last World Day of Migrants and Refugees, in order to build a future of hope “no one should be excluded.”

Read the full statement here.

Source: Red Jesuita con Migrantes – LAC