Holy See co-sponsors Geneva panel on migration

(Vatican Radio) The 29th United Nations Human Rights Council on Migration and Integration has been meeting this month in Geneva to discuss the issues surrounding immigration. Several Catholic agencies held a parallel event on Friday to contribute to this discussion.

Listen to the report by correspondent Christian Peschken: 

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the U.N. Geneva emphasized the importance of faith based organizations to welcome and assist migrants.

He pointed out that the Catholic Church has organizations such a Caritas Internationalis and many Catholic inspired NGO's' such as the International Catholic Migration Commission, as well as the secretariats of each Bishop Conference dealing with migration. 

Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, the newly appointed Italian Cardinal known for his work with migrants,” said the United Nation should become a protagonist in the common search for solutions.

“It's time to consider migration not as an emergency but as a normal event, and the fact that it is considered an emergency creates all the excitement and the lack of planning,” he said.

“Legal avenues for the migrants should be provided so they don't have to take  the rickety boats  that they use with the risk of losing their lives , and therefore some visas of some system of legal provision should be given to these people so they can move without risk,” he continued.

The Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See and the Permanent Observer Mission of the Order of Malta in collaboration with the Caritas in Veritate Foundation,  International Catholic  Migration Commission, and Caritas Internationalis participated in the event.