News
Participants in a recent conference on the refugee crisis in Europe, hosted by the WCC, said they felt energized by the reports from a multitude of activities undertaken by churches from Lebanon to Finland through Serbia, Greece and Germany.
As they prepared to head back to their various fields of engagement, they expressed their commitment to continue to work together to tackle the crisis from all angles.
The conference held in Geneva on 18 and 19 January was co-sponsored by UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund; UNFPA, the UN Population Fund; and UNHCR, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It provided an opportunity for practitioners from UN agencies and civil society organizations, especially faith based ones, to hear each other's concerns and exchange best practices.
This opportunity of mutual listening for actors in countries that are receiving refugees as well as in their countries of origin and transit was an important step, said the general secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches, Fr Dr Michel Jalakh. He expressed his hope at the end of the conference that the WCC could play a coordinating role for the response to the refugee crisis by churches and their national and regional councils, in order to move beyond sporadic interventions.
Dr Audeh Quawas from Jordan, in charge of Ecumenical Relations for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, saw the conference as a welcome opportunity to highlight the need for tackling the refugee crisis at its origin, by solving the main problems in the Middle East. For that, the countries surrounding Syria would need more assistance, he pointed out.
"We need to treat people as human beings, not as religious affiliations," he added. "That's what we learned from our Christian faith."
The ecumenical officer of the French Protestant Federation, the Rev. Jane Stranz, said she left Geneva with a renewed commitment to put refugee issues and the rights of refugees on the agenda.
"Refugees are not criminals but people who are moving because they can no longer live where they come from: Good people moving for bad reasons," she explained. "We need to keep saying that."
Jasvir Singh, who represented the Faiths Forum for London at the event, said he was struck by the level of willingness to cooperate and collaborate in order to improve the experience of refugees coming to Europe.
"The openness of the ecumenical movement is to be commended," he said, adding that "now we need to look at next steps."
He pointed to the need to hear the interfaith voice: "We need to ensure that we tackle the refugee crisis from a spiritual perspective where we acknowledge differences but also focus on commonalities."
Msgr Marco Gnavi of the Community of Sant’Egidio explained that "no single church or faith based community can deal with this issue alone. We need to find a tone that is comprehensible beyond our borders."
He urged Europeans not to forget that their continent shares responsibility for the causes of the crisis. Ending on a positive note, he added: "Every time we meet an 'Other' is a chance to renew our vocation as Christians."
More information on WCC work on migration (including conference documentation)
WCC/UN conference calls for coordinated action on refugee crisis (WCC press release of 20 January)
