On Friday 20 June, when 11 priests, including myself, were celebrating their 11th anniversary of their priestly ordination, the United Nations was observing its 13th World Refugee Day. The United Nations can protect refugees and seek ways to help them restart their lives thanks to its impartial and non-political humanitarian organisation called the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the current eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, “most of the world’s refugees – 86 per cent – live in the developing world, compared to 70 per cent 10 years ago.

Most of these countries have kept their doors open to people in search of safety, and have shown a generosity that is often well beyond their means. Ban Ki-moon strongly appealed to all member states of the UN and its partners in civil society to do their best to support the nations and communities that have welcomed the forcibly displaced into their midst.

The UN General-Secretary’s plea perfectly echoed what Pope Francis highlighted in this year’s message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees which the Church has been celebrating since 1914, thus anticipating the UN World Refugee Day by 87 years! In fact, the first celebration of the UN World Refugee Day was observed on 20 June 2001.

The Holy Father wrote: “The reality of migration, given its new dimensions in our age of globalization, needs to be approached and managed in a new, equitable and effective manner; more than anything, this calls for international cooperation and a spirit of profound solidarity and compassion. Cooperation at different levels is critical, including the broad adoption of policies and rules aimed at protecting and promoting the human person.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI went even further by, boldly and intelligently, sketching a just dynamic of how such migration policies can be worked out in order to respond effectively to this current international humanitarian crisis. In his thought-provoking encyclical Caritas in Veritate, the Pope proposed that these policies “should set out from close collaboration between the migrants’ countries of origin and their countries of destination; they should be accompanied by adequate international norms able to coordinate different legislative systems with a view to safeguarding the needs and rights of individual migrants and their families, and at the same time, those of the host countries” (§ 62).

In Malta, World Refugee Day was celebrated by an interreligious meeting where religious leaders prayed at the Paola mosque. In their prayer, they recalled what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI suggested in Caritas et Vertitate. “We pray for our political leaders, that they may implement policies that allow for safe migration and just migrant working conditions, and put an end to the detention of asylum seekers while protecting our national safety.” Furthermore, the different religious leaders also prayed for just working conditions for migrant workers as well as for the protection of unaccompanied refugee children.

Imam Mohammed El Said encouraged the government to re-examine the actual detention policy or reduce the time of detention as much as it could. According to the Imam, the present policy does not embrace the real welfare of migrants. He said: “Those who do not welcome and show respect to migrants should put themselves in the shoes of migrants and ask themselves if they would like to be treated unkindly…” Having said that, the Imam also appealed to migrants to respect Maltese culture and law. “Migrants should be grateful to the host country, be law abiding and respect the culture of the host country”.

On the other hand, Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna, stated: “It is only when we start treating migrants as humans that we can come up with the right policies.” Clearly alluding to the biblical tenet “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev 19:18; Matt 5:43 etc), Bishop Scicluna continued: “We are all human irrelevant of faith and country of origin. The golden rule is to treat others as we want to be treated.”

This year’s World Day Refugee occasion showed how religions can promote human dignity. Are there other ways how religions can help us respond compassionately to the plight of the vulnerable?

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

Paola