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It’s tough living at home in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic watching those infected with the COVID-19 virus rise in numbers and the death toll climb. But think of the world’s refugees and people on the move.

Church leaders from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark signed a statement demanding that we take “human responsibility” for refugees on the border between Turkey and Greece.

A German delegation comprised of representatives of municipalities, church leaders and prominent civil society organizations recently visited the Greek island of Lesbos, already hosting tens of thousands of migrants and displaced people, and was on site when the news of the opening of the Turkish border was announced and the first new arrivals were appearing.

An interreligious conference exploring religion and migration was hosted from 27-30 January in Sweden by Religions for Peace co-president and Church of Sweden Archbishop Dr Antje Jackelén.

Retired Bishop Gunnar Stålsett was convicted by an Oslo court as on 19 December, for having offered work and income to a rejected refugee who couldn’t be sent back to Eritrea. That became illegal in 2011, but Stålsett described himself as a conscientious objector to a law he views as simply wrong. Bishop Stålsett’s case attracted more media coverage in Norway and worldwide, after he was convicted of violating immigration law.

An 84-year-old former bishop of Oslo, Gunnar Stålsett, was ordered to appear in court because he illegally employed a woman from Eritrea who’d been denied asylum and wound up as an undocumented and rejected refugee.

A World Council of Churches webinar held on 25 November with the theme “Racism, Xenophobia and discrimination in the Middle-East Context” drew enthusiastic participants from the broader region inhabited by 411 million people.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) invites media to attend a discussion with Dr Hrayr Jebejian, General Secretary of the Bible Society in the Gulf on Tuesday 19 November 2019, from 3:00-4:30 pm, on the topics of his latest book on migration and the challenges of the Middle East context.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) continues to amplify the voice of the indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, who are oppressed by racism and discrimination.

Concerned about the escalating crisis of violence, racism and discrimination against indigenous Papuans in Indonesia, a side event co-sponsored by the WCC was convened during a fall session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss patterns that are oppressing and displacing Papuans.

The movie Eldorado, in which filmmaker Markus Imhoof examines the European migrant crisis and contrasts it against his boyhood experience with a post-World War II Italian refugee, has received recognition from the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and SIGNIS, a Roman Catholic lay ecclesial movement for professionals in the communication.

The film was awarded because it highlights universal values.

Commemorating the International Day of Peace on 21 September, the Ecumenical Network of South Sudan sent a message to the Uganda Joint Christian Council and to other organizations and communities who have hosted refugees.
“We would like to express our solidarity, knowing quite well your ever-commendable efforts towards your support for the people of South Sudan,” reads the statement. “You have been true ambassadors of the love of Christ.”

The Sant'Egidio community began a “Peace with no borders” conference in Madrid on 15 September, gathering religious leaders from all over the world to address each other on migration, the environment, dialogue and inclusion.

Citing an “appalling record” of failure to rescue refugees at sea, the Evangelical Church in Germany, along with other faith-based and civil society groups, are calling for better solutions.

Members of Bread for the World’s Pan African Young Adult Network embarked on a pilgrimage to Jamestown, Virginia (USA) on 23-25 August to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved African peoples in 1619.

On International Youth Day, Azeez Sadeq, who now lives in Lyon, France, shared his personal story of being an Iraqi refugee.

"Have you ever thought that one day, you can lose everything?” he asked the young people gathered with him.

That's what happened to Sadeq when he was 18 years old, when the Islamic State Organisation, also referred to as Daesh, invaded his village.

Virag Kinga Mezei is a Hungarian intern for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. With a passion for human rights, she regularly engages in discussions while also getting training through the WCC on mechanisms that lead to the achievement of racial and social justice.

In a statement released this week, the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA expressed distress at Trump Administration policies that separate children from adult family members.

A wave of change is blowing at the All Africa Conference of Churches, as the African ecumenical body implements a new five-year strategic plan. In an ambitious six pillar road map, the grouping of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, and indigenous churches has unveiled completely new areas of work, as it moves to inject new energy into older programmes. At the core of the strategy is effectiveness, efficiency and reliability for the ecumenical body, which is keen to deliver on its prophetic mission.

The World Council of Churches was among 25 signatories on a statement released by the UN Refugee Agency entitled “Faith Actors call for Global Solidarity.” The statement was released on World Refugee Day, observed on 20 June.

In a meeting on 12 June in Geneva with World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit and Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe general secretary Torsten Moritz, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi said the role of churches in Europe is “phenomenal” when it comes to helping refugees.