Read more here.

To date, not enough emphasis has been placed on meeting basic Afghan needs and building a solid foundation for sustainable peace, recovery and inclusive long-term development, said leading U.S.-based international NGOs on Monday.

“It is the 10th anniversary of the first Bonn conference. We hope that governments attending this meeting fully seize the opportunity to do better than they have to date. Much more needs to be done to put Afghanistan on the road to recovery, stability and sustainable development,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, the biggest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

“Civil society organizations and ordinary Afghans should be placed at the center of these renewed efforts. Their contributions will be critical to a successful transition from war to peace, where the needs of all Afghans, including women, are taken into consideration,” added Worthington.

Bonn should be an important step in solidifying new commitments. The conference must also focus on creating the social and economic structures and institutions needed to sustain investments that build on areas where there have already been some success.

More successful programs such as the National Solidarity Program, which is aimed at reaching people in rural areas, and the Basic Package of Health Services, were delivered in partnership with the donor community, Afghanistan’s government and international and local civil society groups. Such an approach should be replicated in other areas.

Immediate efforts should focus on small-scale, high-impact investments in areas such as health, education and water. Rule of law, governance and community-led projects that help build Afghan capacity are also critical to securing Afghanistan’s future and guarding against potential disasters and crises.

Building public-private partnerships to deliver basic services and establishing mechanisms so that local communities can keep track of assistance provided by NGOs and the government would instill greater confidence going forward.

As transition processes get underway, the international community must align its programs with Afghanistan’s own development priorities which should be agreed on in consultation with civil society groups. With more limited resources flowing to Afghanistan, donors must strengthen coordination to ensure that programs target the right areas and new gaps do not emerge.

“The legitimacy of the Afghan government and its efforts to rebuild Afghan society will depend on the support, skills and commitment of its entire population,” said Worthington. “We hope that world leaders attending the Bonn conference will keep this in mind as they help the next generation in Afghanistan to reach their full potential,” he added.

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Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is a member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental international organizations, with more than 190 members. Our members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life. Visit www.interaction.org

15 Representatives join Peters, Eshoo, Levin and Dold to protect minorities

(Washington, D.C.) November 29, 2011 — Congressman Gary Peters, an active member of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus, worked with U.S. Representatives Eshoo, Levin and Dold to seek greater assistance for the ethno-religious minorities of Iraq. Today, they sent a letter signed by a total of 19 Members of Congress seeking funding for increased security and assistance to NGOs in the Nineveh Plains and to Christian Iraqis overall.

The letter was sent to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

The letter acknowledges that the ethno-religious minorities of Iraq, such as Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs and other communities of faith are struggling to “maintain a foothold in the land they have inhabited for thousands of years.” It further recognizes that the Iraqi Christian population is 50% less than what it was in 2003, and perhaps even lower.

In asking for increased assistance to Iraqi Christians, Congressman Peters and his colleagues write that the “daily persecution has resulted in ongoing exodus that threatens the very survival of these ancient communities. Without significant assistance, Iraqis and members of the Iraqi Diaspora believe complete depopulation is possible within a decade.”

The focus of the letter is for the 2012 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill to include language recognizing the importance of “providing targeted assistance to ethno-religious minorities in Iraq to help ensure their continued survival, especially those living in the Nineveh Plains region.”

“This was not a diplomatic game. It was about saving a great number of lives – the outright rejection of weaker standards shows that small and medium size states in partnership with the UN, ICRC and civil society can set the agenda in international politics”  said Grethe Ostern, Policy Adviser, Mine Action Department, Norwegian Peoples Aid, Cluster Munition Coalition member.

The failure to set up a weaker alternative to the existing ban strengthens the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions which like the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty prohibits the use, production and transfer of an entire category of weapons and promotes the rights of victims and survivors. The Cluster Munition Coalition calls on all remaining countries to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

“The message from the failed efforts today is clear – cluster bombs are indiscriminate, kill long after they are dropped and are illegal. Countries like China, India, Israel, Russia and the US who say they are seriously concerned about the humanitarian impact, should go home and immediately begin destroying their stockpiles” said Amy Little, Campaign Manager for the Cluster Munition Coalition.

The U.S. was the key promoter of the proposed law. Opposition was led by Norway, Austria, and Mexico, with powerful support from the Cluster Munition Coalition, the ICRC, and a large number of UN agencies, notably the UN Development Programme, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions has been signed by 111 nations, including some of the biggest users, producers, and or stockpilers in recent decades, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Twenty-two of the twenty-eight NATO members have joined the ban convention.

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For more information, see:

• Avaaz petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/cluster_bombs_ii_b/?fpla

• Draft chair’s text of CCW protocol on cluster munitions: http://bit.ly/ozC7iY

• CMC on Facebook: www.facebook.com/banclusterbombs

• CMC on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@banclusterbombs

• CMC on Storify: http://storify.com/banclusterbombs/convention-on-conventional-weapons-review-conference

About cluster bombs:

A cluster munition (or cluster bomb) is a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions or bomblets. Cluster munitions are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions over an area that can be the size of several football fields. This means they cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers. Many of the submunitions fail to explode on impact and remain a threat to lives and livelihoods for decades after a conflict.

About The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL):

The USCBL, currently coordinated by Handicap International, is a coalition of thousands of people and U.S. non- governmental organizations working to: (1) ensure no U.S. use, production, or transfer of antipersonnel landmines and cluster munitions; (2) encourage the U.S. to join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions; and (3) secure high levels of U.S. government support for clearance and assistance programs for victims of landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war. The USCBL is the U.S. affiliate of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)—the co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize—and is a member of the Cluster Munition Coalition.

About the Convention on Cluster Munitions:

The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions and requires countries to clear affected areas within 10 years and destroy stockpiles of the weapon within eight. The Convention includes groundbreaking provisions requiring assistance to victims and affected communities. Signed in Oslo in December 2008, the Convention entered into force as binding international law on 1 August 2010 and is the most significant international disarmament treaty since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty banning antipersonnel landmines.

About the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC):

The CMC is an international coalition with more than 350 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in around 100 countries to encourage urgent action against cluster bombs. The CMC facilitates NGO efforts worldwide to educate governments, the public and the media about the problems of cluster munitions and to urge universalisation and full implementation of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

111 countries have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, The Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia FYR, Madagascar , Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tomé and Principe, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Zambia. See www.stopclustermunitions.org/treatystatus for details.

The draft law, a proposed protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), is being pushed as an alternative to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which comprehensively bans all use, production, trade, and stockpiling of all cluster munitions.  The United States is the main proponent of the draft law, and has support from others that have not yet joined the ban convention, such as China, India, Israel, and Russia.

After a week of talks which clearly demonstrated a lack of consensus and strong opposition to the current proposal, the Chairman of the negotiations, French Ambassador Eric Danon, presented a new draft protocol text at the end of the day on Friday.

“After a week of formal negotiations, nothing in the draft text has really changed for the better,” said Steve Goose, chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC). “The revisions have been minimal in number and marginal in substance. As drafted, the protocol will do more humanitarian harm than good, and will fail to address the dangers to civilians posed by cluster munitions,” said Goose. “Any international law that promotes the use of millions of cluster munitions with hundreds of millions of submunitions, like this one does, is a bad law.”

The United States told delegates on Friday that it was going to make a major concession to move the negotiations forward, but then only offered to move one provision — allowing the use of cluster munitions with a failure rate of 1% or less — from one part of the protocol to another. The CMC immediately told delegates that this was “no big deal, no real concession, and devoid of any substantial humanitarian impact,” because those cluster munitions could still be used forever without any restrictions.

“The negotiations began at a standstill, are still deadlocked, and should stay that way. The protocol is bad news for civilians that will suffer from future use, and bad news for international humanitarian law,” said Goose.  The CMC and International Committee of the Red Cross have said the protocol would be a terrible precedent in international humanitarian law, with states for the first time adopting a treaty with lower standards than one already agreed to by a majority of nations.

Some of the changes give a rhetorical nod to the ban convention as a goal to be strived for, but the CMC finds that none will help to reduce urgently the unacceptable humanitarian harm cluster munitions cause. The revised protocol still allows indefinite use of cluster munitions with one so-called safeguard, such as a self-destruct device, even though such cluster munitions have been demonstrated time and again to cause large numbers of civilian casualties. It still contains a 12-year deferral period where armed forces can use cluster munitions without any safeguard, even though States Parties have agreed these are so dangerous to civilians they must be banned. The revised protocol still does not address in any way one of the gravest dangers of cluster munitions: their indiscriminate, wide-area affect at the time of use.

The negotiations Chairman, Amb. Danon, has indicated that he intends to prepare another revised draft text by the end of the day on Tuesday. States would then have Wednesday, and possibly Thursday, to try to reach final agreement, before the conference concludes on Friday.

“It does not appear possible to us that negotiators will be able to bridge the vast divides that still exist,” said Goose. “Minor tweaks and band-aid fixes such as we saw in the latest revised protocol will not do the trick.  Only a major overhaul could turn this into a law that could have humanitarian benefit,” he said.

Seventy-four of 114 countries that are States Parties of the Convention on Conventional Weapons have already banned cluster munitions by signing or ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  The CMC is urging these states not to back off the ban, and to oppose the adoption of this protocol because, as currently drafted, it would still do more harm than good.

The CMC has been disturbed by the degree to which a number of the ban convention countries have been trying to facilitate the adoption of this weak, counter-productive protocol, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.  The United Kingdom appears to be active behind the scenes.

On Monday morning, as the revised draft was being discussed, cluster bomb survivor and CMC spokesperson Branislav Kapetanovic handed a petition of 581,237 signatures to Amb. Danon, showing  that the world is watching as these talks continue. The petition, launched by Avaaz and the CMC, has been signed by citizens in almost every country. It calls on governments to align any new agreement with the existing ban under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, ensuring this indiscriminate weapon continues to be comprehensively banned, and innocent lives protected.

Kim Miller

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO – Kim Miller has joined the staff of the Ignatian Solidarity Network, assuming the role of program director on August 8, 2011.  The Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) is a national social justice organization connecting members of Jesuit universities, high schools, parishes, current and former Jesuit volunteers, and many others, committed to working for justice inspired by faith in the tradition of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Kim Miller graduated from Gonzaga University in 2009, earning a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Marketing and a minor in Broadcast Studies and Electronic Media.  Miller spent the next two years serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During her first year, she worked with teens with developmental disabilities and provided programming and marketing services for STRIVE in South Portland, Maine.  In her second year, Kim served as an outreach coordinator for Jesuit Refugee Service/USA based in Washington, D.C. While at JRS/USA Miller created interactive refugee awareness programs and spoke to campus groups across the country.  In coming to work at ISN, she said this, “I am inspired by the Ignatian family members I meet, and look forward to continuing to empower students and parishioners to promote justice within their local and global communities.”

When asked about Miller joining the ISN staff, Christopher Kerr, ISN executive director, said this, “I am excited by the wealth of experience Kim brings from her time as a Jesuit Volunteer and her undergraduate studies at Gonzaga University.  Her passion for justice and marketing skills will be a great asset to the Ignatian family.”

Started in 2004, ISN initially became known for hosting one of the largest faith-based social justice gatherings for young people in the country.  Until 2009, the event known as the “Ignatian Family Teach-In for Social Justice” took place in Columbus, Georgia.  In 2010, the Teach-in moved to Washington, D.C., on the campus of Georgetown University.

The Teach-In includes prominent national and international speakers, educational workshops, and an advocacy day on Capitol Hill.  Over 1,200 Jesuit students, alumni, and parishioners attend the event each year.  ISN also facilitates gatherings related to social justice leadership and advocacy throughout the United States as well as providing opportunities for students and staff at U.S. Jesuit institutions to network about engagement with social justice and Ignatian spirituality.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA welcomes their new Outreach Coordinator, Cara Pavlak, next week.

The Ignatian Solidarity Network promotes leadership and advocacy among students, alumni, and other emerging leaders from Jesuit schools, parishes, and ministries by educating its members on social justice issues; by mobilizing a national network to address those issues; and by encouraging a life-long commitment to the “service of faith and the promotion of justice.”  ISN’s office is located at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.  ISN is non-profit 501c3 organization. 

“These cuts will not only harm U.S. national interests, they will have a huge impact on the lives of those who are already marginalized in the poorest corners of the earth,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs.

He added: “The argument that a nation with an annual GDP of $14.6 trillion cannot afford to invest a fraction of 1% of that to proactively work to build a safer, more prosperous world, and to fully fund desperately needed humanitarian activity, is simply false.”

Some of the deepest cuts suggested by appropriators today include:

• USAID Operating Expenses slashed  by 27% to $982.5 million (was $1.3 billion in FY11)

• Overall poverty-focused international development and humanitarian assistance cut by 13% to $13.95 billion (was $15.95 billion in FY11)

• Development Assistance cut by 18% to $2.1 billion (was $2.5 billion in FY11)

• International Disaster Assistance: cut by 12% to $758 million (was $863 million in FY11, $1.3 billion in FY10 including emergency funding);

• Contributions to multilateral efforts to combat climate change: Cut to zero from $248 million in FY11, $388 million in FY10.

“With the worst drought in 60 years hitting parts of the Horn of Africa, these cuts amount to the U.S. turning its back on its own strategic interests and walking away from long held international commitments.   For America’s own good and for those around the world who look to the U.S. for leadership, we need to do better,” said Worthington.

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InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental international organizations, with more than 190 members. Our members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life. Visit www.interaction.org

(CENTROAMÉRICA, NORTEAMÉRICA Y CARIBE)

(San José, Costa Rica) — Nosotros, Obispos católicos responsables de las comisiones de movilidad humana reunidos en San José, Costa Rica, del 1 al 3 de junio de 2011, unidos a religiosos, religiosas, laicos, laicas, participantes de CELAM y de Cáritas Internacional, comprometidos con la realidad migratoria, expresamos nuestra solidaridad con nuestros hermanos y hermanas que migran en busca de una mejor vida en esta región.

Testigos del gran sufrimiento que viven las personas migrantes de nuestros países y regiones, quienes son víctimas de explotación y abuso por parte de varios actores (funcionarios públicos, empleadores sin escrúpulos y organizaciones criminales), nuevamente exigimos a nuestros gobiernos hacerse responsables de la protección legal a los y las migrantes, incluyendo a quienes buscan trabajo, solicitan asilo, refugio y han sido víctimas de Trata de Personas. Pedimos especial atención y protección para familias, mujeres y niños.

Reconocemos el derecho de soberanía de las naciones para legislar sin embargo, consideramos injustas e inhumanas y, por lo tanto, objeto de cambio o supresión, las leyes que provocan la separación de familias migrantes, detenciones arbitrarias y amenazas a la vida. Todas estas consecuencias se ven reflejadas en:

El incremento de la violencia en los secuestros por parte del crimen organizado de las personas migrantes. El dramático incremento de secuestros y homicidios de migrantes en México, cometidos por organizaciones criminales, demandan una respuesta urgente.

La masacre de 72 migrantes en Tamaulipas, México, el año pasado y los descubrimientos más recientes de más de 200 personas –muchas de ellas migrantes- en el norte de México, representan una terrible tragedia que ha recibido poca atención por parte de las autoridades gubernamentales.

Estos asesinatos y secuestros continúan en la impunidad. Las personas migrantes que han sido secuestrados y luego liberados han experimentado traumas severos y todavía no reciben ningún tipo de atención ni servicio; ellas deberían recibir cuidado específico para víctimas en México o en su país de origen. Exigimos a nuestros gobiernos que trabajen juntos para reducir el peligro que padecen las personas migrantes y que castiguen a los responsables de estos crímenes. Hacemos un llamado a los gobiernos y nuestros hermanos a concientizar a las personas migrantes sobre la peligrosidad de las organizaciones criminales que operan en México y a no dejarse engañar por ellas.

El incremento en las deportaciones entre Estados Unidos y México. El gobierno de Estados Unidos apoyado por su Congreso ha deportado una cantidad record de migrantes en los últimos dos años, a pesar de la petición realizada por la Iglesia Católica, para trabajar en la reforma de la ley de migración que incluiría la legalización de los trabajadores indocumentados y sus familias. Urgimos al Gobierno de los Estados Unidos cambiar el curso de sus acciones y proteger a los migrantes y sus familias independientemente de su status migratorio.

De la misma manera, en México han aumentado las deportaciones, los migrantes han recibido un duro tratamiento y casi nulo acceso al debido proceso. El Gobierno mexicano pierde credibilidad cuando busca protección para sus ciudadanos en otros países pero no la provee para los inmigrantes en México.

La tragedia de la Trata de Persona. Aquellos que viven en pobreza continúan siendo víctimas de la Trata de Persona en nuestro hemisferio, sobre todo representan un alto grado de vulnerabilidad los niños y niñas migrantes no acompañados, que en muchos casos son víctimas en los países de tránsito y destino. Ciertamente se han realizado pasos importantes en los últimos diez años para enfrentar este problema humanitario que no son suficientes. Expresamos nuestro apoyo a los esfuerzos contra la Trata de Personas y el aumento en la atención de víctimas. Urgimos la vigilancia de parte de los gobiernos y nuestros compatriotas en la lucha en contra de esta tragedia hasta que sea eliminada de nuestro hemisferio y del mundo entero.

Crecimiento de la inequidad económica. Como hemos sostenido en el pasado, la solución a la migración es el desarrollo y las oportunidades económicas en todo el hemisferio, de tal manera que las familias puedan encontrar trabajo y vivir con dignidad en sus países de origen. Mayor atención debe ponerse a la inequidad económica, especialmente cuando la integración económica y los acuerdos de libre comercio son abordados entre países del hemisferio.

Estos acuerdos favorecen algunos sectores económicos pero excluyen a otros. Un gran número de trabajadores, particularmente en las zonas rurales pobres en los países en desarrollo, frecuentemente son despojados de su medio de subsistencia debido que tales acuerdos no toman en cuenta sus intereses.

Más importante aún, es que los gobiernos del hemisferio provean y fomenten la inversión social y pongan su atención en la creación de empleos y la satisfacción de necesidades de salud, educación, vivienda y seguridad social. El desarrollo económico y social sostenible debe ser la meta más importante del hemisferio.

Los efectos de la globalización en las personas. Vivimos en un tiempo en que los bienes, el capital y la comunicación se intercambian globalmente en poco tiempo. Sin embargo, las personas en movimiento que proveen de fuerza de trabajo para mantener el crecimiento económico no reciben protección legal. Nuestros gobiernos no pueden continuar beneficiándose del trabajo de las personas sin documentos sin ofrecerles protección legal.

Los países de origen se benefician enormemente de las remesas enviadas por los migrantes, pero sin compromisos verdaderos que transformen la realidad de las personas migrantes y sus familias, a través de obras de desarrollo y promoción humana integral, para ellas y las comunidades. Los países de destino obtienen beneficios del trabajo de los migrantes pero se resisten a darles protección y en ocasiones los utilizan como objetos durante los procesos electorales. Las autoridades en países de destino también someten a los migrantes a duros y difíciles procesos migratorios y no los protegen de la explotación y el abuso, permitiendo con ello el irrespeto de la dignidad de la persona.

En tanto que es un tema moral, esta situación no puede continuar. Urgimos a las naciones que no han ratificado la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Trabajadores Migrantes y sus familias, aprobarla y armonizar su legislación, y crear políticas públicas que reflejen el espíritu de la Convención para las personas migrantes independientemente de su status migratorio.

El incremento en las amenazas a agentes de la Pastoral de Migrantes en su carácter de defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos. Este es un drama que ha aumentado en México, como una cacería para tantos hombres y mujeres cuya labor pastoral hermana y solidaria, se ha convertido en amenaza, sobre todo para la bandas criminales y algunos funcionarios coludidos con ellos, que han perdido el sentido de ver a la persona y ven en el migrante una mercancía de lucro.

Algunos agentes de la pastoral, pese a encontrarse con amenazas de estos criminales, han asumido su compromiso de fe con valentía y han defendido con su propia vida y con celo a los migrantes, como el pastor defiende a la oveja del lobo que se la quiere tragar.

A estos hermanos/as les agradecemos su testimonio de fe, les exhortamos a seguir siendo fieles al Señor Jesús; al mismo tiempo, urgimos a las autoridades correspondientes fomentar, respetar y reconocer los santuarios de migrantes, que lo único que buscan es ser una Casa Grande donde todos/as son hermanos y hermanas, hijos/as de un Padre común.

El proceso de recuperación de Haití. Urgimos la continua colaboración para la recuperación de Haití, la nación más pobre del hemisferio, tras el terremoto de enero de 2010. Apremiamos a las naciones a proteger a los haitianos que residen en su territorio y a continuar la asistencia económica a Haití. Felicitamos a las naciones que ofrecen protección ampliada para los haitianos en sus territorios.

Sin embargo, nos preocupan las nuevas deportaciones de migrantes haitianos hacia Haití en un contexto de inseguridad económica y política. Las naciones que han renovado las deportaciones deberían detenerlas hasta que Haití se recupere y esté en condiciones de recibirles.

Como Pastores y acompañantes, continuaremos defendiendo los derechos de los migrantes en nuestro hemisferio y visibilizando sus necesidades. Mientras apoyamos la implementación de la ley en nuestros países también trabajamos para que estas leyes sean justas para todos los seres humanos, especialmente para aquellos que no tienen poder político ni tienen quién les represente. Pedimos a los católicos y a todas las personas de este hemisferio que nos acompañen en esta tarea. Llamamos a los católicos a acoger a los migrantes, actitud que forma parte de nuestra fe y nuestro compromiso cristiano.

Como seguidores de nuestro Señor Jesucristo continuamos “acogiendo al extranjero” tal como él nos enseño: haciendo vida la escena de la persona que cae en manos de bandidos y el paso de una buena persona, que hace las veces de Jesús: vendó sus heridas…y cuidó de él (Lc. 10, 25- 37), e invita a hacer lo mismo: cuida de él, porque “lo que hayas hecho a uno de nuestros pequeños, me lo hiciste a mí (Mt.25, 35-40).

Mons. Ángel Sancasimiro Obispo de Alajuela Responsable de la Movilidad Humana Conferencia Episcopal de Costa Rica

Mons. Anthony B. Taylor Diócesis de Little Rock, Arkansas Conferencia Episcopal de Estados Unidos

Mons. Álvaro Ramazzini Imeri Obispo de San Marcos Responsable de la Movilidad Humana Conferencia Episcopal de Guatemala

Mons. Joseph Bonello Obispo Auxiliar de Juticalpa

Responsable de la Movilidad Humana Conferencia Episcopal de Honduras

Mons. Raúl Vera López Obispo de Saltillo Conferencia Episcopal Mexicana

Mons. Rafael Romo Muñoz Arzobispo de Tijuana Responsable de la Movilidad Humana Conferencia Episcopal Mexicana

Mons. Pedro Valera Sever Obispo Aux. Arquidiócesis de Panamá Responsable de Pastoral Social Conferencia Episcopal de Panamá

Mons. Pedro Hernández Cantarero Obispo del Vicariato de Darién Encargado de Migración Conferencia Episcopal de Panama