A Caravan of Dignity

The Jesuit Migrant Network of Latin America and the Caribbean recently published a statement on the importance of understanding the causes of the so-called “Migrant Caravan”, the fact that the security of the migrants is mainly what’s at stake, and the need to promote a culture of hospitality and solidarity with those fleeing situations of extreme poverty and generalized violence.

In the face of media portrayals that dehumanize and criminalize migrants, the Jesuit Migrant Network invites us to see and contemplate the faces and the lives of those who are walking in search of a more dignified future. They are the faces of the nearly million children who are excluded from the educational system. They are the faces of youth who in employment age find themselves amongst the 60% who are unable to find a job or have a minimum wage; who find that 40 youth like them are murdered every month. They are the faces of women who know that every 16 hours someone like them is killed. They are the faces of human and environmental rights defenders who find themselves in one of the most dangerous countries in the world to exercise their freedom.

This report calls on the need for “transparency, coordination and dialogue” with migrants and human rights defenders, the need for “truthful and objective information” for civil society and the public opinion, and the call for concrete actions to build paths of hospitality, following the words of Pope Francis: to welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees.

To learn more:

• Desafíos de los flujos migratorios desde la perspectiva de la Red Jesuita con Migrantes para América Latina y el Caribe (RJM-LAC)
• Updates from RJM on the “Central American Exodus”

To learn what Jesuit networks around the world are doing to promote a culture of hospitality:

• Historias de Hospitalidad
• Campaign for Hospitality
• Hospitalidad España