For the second year in a row I have been given the mission to accompany a small pastoral team for migrants in the Diocese of Landes.  We’ve increased our numbers by inviting a Daughter of Charity from the Berceau community who provides French lessons and a layman from a parish south of the departmente who accompanies the Oromos (migrants from an Ethiopian tribe).

In Landes, there are state organizations to guide them: they are 2 CADA (Center for help to asylum seekers) one in Mont de Marsan and one in Dax and 2 CAO (Center for Help and Orientation) one in the Berceau and one in Amou for young miners from West Africa (Guinea Conakry, Mali and the Congo); as well as multiple associations CIMADE (a Protestant self-help organization); the League of Human Rights; CCFD; Catholic Relief; Amnesty International; the Association of Layperson  Families, etc ….

Berceau, having a CAO status, last year received single women (from Ethiopia and Eritrea) and this year some men (from Afghanistan, Darfur, Yemen, Syria, Kurdistan, and the Sahara).

Berceau’s CAO status ends at the end of the month and we are looking for places to stay for the ten young people whose pleas have been refused (CIMADE contacted us to follow-up on them and accompany them) and some families with children in school who were also rejected (Kosovar and Albanian).  They will be accompanied by an association inspired by the work of yet another association born on Bayonne 5 years ago, which, thanks to its efforts, has allowed the regularization of some 50 families.

At the recent meeting of the Diocesan Solidarity Council we discussed the fate of young migrant minors who were abandoned because of lack of prospects and those who are still arriving, at a rate of 2 per day in the departmente. These are no longer supported, either by the ASE (Social Assistance for Children) or by the police who before had orders to drive them to the authorities. This increases the risk of letting young people get lost, because the streets in France are nothing like those of Africa, especially if they also present dangers. One of our volunteers, herself from Africa, is in the process of speaking with some of the young people she has met along with some of the former migrants from their country who now live in Landes … we acknowledge that the situation is complex, but many people stand in solidarity.

Yesterday, October 18, during his press conference at the Synod for Young People, the Ethiopian cardinal Souraphiel, a Lazarist, called the attention of our European countries to their mission: “It is sad to know that borders are closing to people who are fleeing hunger and war, and that those who are closing these gates come from Europe’s Christian foundational roots?  Is not Europe a continent that has publicly dedicated itself to live out Christian values? ” exclaimed Cardinal Berhaneyesus Suraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Ababa and President of the Episcopal Conference of Ethiopia, during the daily press conference of the Synod young people in the Vatican (October 3 to 28).  In the hall, other heads of the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine, a religious brother delegate, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate and of Russian People all spoke out.

“When we speak of Africa more than half of the population is young, they want to change things, they want to get out of poverty.  Most of the world’s mass media are speaking about the migration of young Africans to the Middle East traveling through Sudan and Libya towards Europe but they migrate to the latter in very limited numbers because … the largest portion of migrations by youth takes place within the African continent; we can say that we are talking about only 20% of migrants here while 80% of emigration happens within the interior of the continent,” said the Ethiopian cardinal.

“Continuous migration occurs in the absence of good governance which leads to corruption, conflict, civil wars, and liberation movements. Another issue is that of the arms trade, a huge business that comes from Europe, from America, from China to Africa, a reality that nobody talks about, especially because it is a juicy trade.  Weapons are brought in wherever civil strife is happening; so many young people are dying because of this. We have child soldiers, equipped with modern guns, armaments, sophisticated materials such as mines…. This is the great tragedy of young Africans migrating. I hope that the Holy See, its diplomatic contributions and relations with Christian leaders will be able to do something about it.  Formerly when a migrant traveled from one country to another he was welcomed, he was given a glass of water, water for washing, a place to rest.  Today, to be a migrant is not easy.  When many Europeans went to other countries they had more opportunities compared to migrants these days.  Ethiopia is a poor country but it receives one million refugees; after Uganda, it is the second country for immigration.”

“Any stranger who knocks on your door will find welcome.” How sad when we see how borders are being closed off to people who are fleeing famine and war and – as pointed out by Cardinal Souraphiel – we ask: where are Europe’s Christian roots?  Is not Europe a continent that recognizes Christian values? I spoke about this during the synod. This is also what the Holy Father said when he spoke about ideological colonialism, that in order receive any assistance one is forced to accept the Western values before help arrives. Multinationals are present in places where there are natural resources such as in the Congo; they exploit children, young people and old people in order to extract minerals. The Catholic Church present in these places has been witness to this. We have even seen people who have become victims of human trafficking there where they are suffering: the Church stands alongside these stripped persons, these persons forced to leave their country. “Cardinal Sourahiel says he was “touched when Cardinal Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Santa Marta Group, [noted earlier]) said that in our time in the world there are 40 million slaves, and most are young people: they are in the worldwide network of human trafficking”.

“At the Synod we also talk about what we can do, what the universal Church can do. This has touched the hearts of our young delegates at the Synod. I hope that Synod will reach all young people, not only those in the developed world, but also those who can not afford to be here. The Church must speak on their behalf. According to the Ethiopian cardinal, “Before any other question arising during our time of the internet and modern technologies, there are young people here for whom the question is survival,” and he repeated it during the interview. “To receive the stranger, the refugee, every person in need, this is a Christian value, a Christian obligation; to close his door is never in the Christian tradition. We all know that those who arrive may not be innocent human beings or people who have suffered violence in their country, but most are.  We see a mother, a grandmother knocking on the door for a place to place herself, I believe that this is a problem of conscience, and the conscience of Europe that has been formed by Christian values. Europe has received many refugees, for example Germany, while others have closed their borders. Does Europe no longer have Christian roots?  Even John Paul II asked for this, and this request goes to every Christian conscience. ”

The Cardinal, among others in Africa, does recognizes that there are [also] many young people who do not wish to leave but who wish to stay in their country to improve things from the inside. “Some people think that coming to Europe will be heaven, but that’s not the reality; they think that coming to Europe they will stabilize the situation of their family, but this is not the case. But as we come to know of the racism coming to life here in Europe and in other countries of the world, we need to remember that refugee life is not easy.  I say this to reinforce the desire to stay at home and change the situation from the inside.

May we together seek human solutions to situations that so often seem deeply painful and to which our countries seem to be shutting their doors, as we come face-to-face with our complex world that seeks a new equilibrium to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Bernard Massaarini, C.M.
Coordinator of the Pastoral Care of Migrants
Translated by Dan Paul Borlik, C.M.
Western Province, USA
Source: https://cmglobal.org/