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Issam, a refugee child from Syria, enjoys a Swedish festival. Photo: Albin Hillert

Issam, a refugee child from Syria, enjoys a Swedish festival. Photo: Albin Hillert

As wars and conflict continue to force thousands of families to flee their homes every day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) appeals to all people of good will to support the UNHCR’s #WithRefugees campaign. By signing a petition to be handed over to the UN headquarters before the General Assembly meeting on 19 September, people around the globe are asked to raise their voices, to ensure that every refugee child gets an education, that every refugee family has somewhere safe to live, and that every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community.

”Migration is a human reality that needs managing, rather than a problem to be solved,” says a WCC video message shared in the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Refugees and Migration, to be held in New York in September 2016. Standing with partners and fellow pilgrims around the world, “the WCC now commits to actively supporting the UNHCR’s #WithRefugees campaign, calling on world leaders to find solutions for protection of refugees, based on a spirit of shared responsibility, shared values and common interests,” says the message, delivered by the associate general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri on behalf of WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit.

“Unfortunately, refugees and migrants have become convenient scapegoats for domestic socio-economic problems, and there is an increasingly widespread misuse of national immigration policies to codify xenophobic bigotry and prejudice,” the message continues.

Dr Katalina Tahaafe-Williams, WCC programme executive for Mission and Evangelism, reflects: “With large-scale migration of people all over the world, we can see that xenophobia and racial violence are on the increase. Under such circumstances, as a fellowship of churches, our faith often calls us to carry out our mission from the margins.”

”Only by being faithful to our human values”, Tahaafe-Willams continues, ”can we achieve justice, peace, and build the hope so often needed in societies struggling with division and exclusion worldwide”.

“Hope is a criterion of our Christian faith,” Tveit concludes. “Often, this means being able to see beyond what we see, and expecting something more, and something else - looking for justice and peace, and nothing less.”

Sign the petition, to stand #WithRefugees

WCC Video: WCC message of support to UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign

WCC work on Migration and social justice

WCC work on Mission from the margins