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The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal for World Aid and Development has launched a disaster appeal in response to the catastrophic flooding in Libya. The floods, which were triggered by a Mediterranean storm, were focused on the city of Derna where almost 4,000 people are known to have died and over 9,000 are missing after torrents of rain and debris swept away entire districts. 

Christian leaders in North Africa are expressing their grief, as the powerful Mediterranean Cyclone Daniel killed thousands of people in the province of Cyrenaica in eastern Libya.

A webinar on 1 March gave speakers and participants the opportunity to express solidarity with communities discriminated on work and descent globally.

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.

“Open a European humanitarian corridor,” urged Italian Protestant churches and the Community of Sant’Egidio in a letter to Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte.

The Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy, Italian Episcopal Conference, Waldensian Board, and Community of Sant’Egidio signed a joint declaration, entitled “Let’s remain human,” that encourages a spirit of humanity and solidarity towards migrants.

Religion is often manipulated by groups who fuel divisions between people of different faiths, said Adama Dieng, special adviser of the UN secretary-general on the prevention of genocide at a 23-25 November Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security.

“Once, the Mediterranean Sea was called ‘the lake of peace’,” said Dr Tarek Mitri of Lebanon at a recent conference promoting a coordinated response to massive migration in Europe. "Today, we find it is a lake of tears, fears and dangers.”

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

The World Council of Churches (WCC) applauds the landmark ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which held Italy responsible for violating the rights of Eritrean and Somali migrants for sending them back to Libya.

During the past year thousands of people from North Africa have disappeared in the Sinai Desert region while crossing the border between Egypt and Israel.

The power and political will being used in Libya to protect the safety and interests of the Libyan people “must be directed away from the use of armed force” and “channelled into negotiations to end the bloodshed” now consuming Libya, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) said in a statement on 4 May.

The World Council of Churches, Conference of European Churches and the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe have expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Libya.

By Theodore Gill*

The myth according to which host countries are "victims" of migration needs to be challenged, as in fact their economies benefit from the exploitation of the migrants' work.

Reacting to the verdict of a Libyan court which has condemned to death six foreign health workers, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has asked H.E. Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi, Leader of the Revolution, to spare their lives on humanitarian grounds.