How is the Covid 19 pandemic affecting forced
migration, education, the environment and ecology, and the most vulnerable
people and communities?
Convened by the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat of the Society of Jesus, the leaders of the Global Ignatian Advocacy Networks (GIAN) on the Right to Education, Migration, Ecology and Justice in Mining met virtually and discussed, among
other issues, the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. These global advocacy networks were
established following the General Congregation XXV, which emphasized the global
challenges that demanded the Society of
Jesus to ‘act as a universal body with a universal mission’.
The Society of Jesus has been working worldwide
with forced migrants for many years. Their situation has been aggravated by
Covid 19. The leader of the network, Javier Cortegoso, who coordinates the
Jesuit Migrant Network in Latin America, denounces the situation in detention
centres in various parts of the world, where overcrowding and deplorable conditions
make it impossible to take measures to prevent contagion; the exploitation by
many governments of the situation to continue the deportations of migrants
without guarantees regarding their health; the abandonment of people in transit
and at the border, the limitation of their access to health systems, and the
increase in rejection and xenophobia towards migrants, who are too often
falsely accused of spreading the virus. These situations and the recommendations
are explained in the political statement of GIAN Migration. For the near future, one cause for concern is
the economic precariousness of migrants due to confinement, since they are in
the informal economy and must earn their daily wages. This is also seriously
detrimental to many families and communities in many countries already in
poverty, due to the sharp decline in remittances sent by migrants to their
countries of origin.
Migrant children – as well as those living in
poverty and exclusion, in remote rural areas, indigenous children, or those
with special needs – suffer acutely from the consequences of school closures in
193 countries around the world. The coordinator of the International Education
Network, Carlos Fritzen, who coordinates the International Federation of Fe y
Alegría points out the violation of the
right to education of these children and the situation of increasing
vulnerability – “hunger” – of their families and communities, in most
cases, daily workers. Although the organizations that make up the network have
tried to adapt through virtual education and radio in the confinement stage,
this alternative presents enormous challenges, such as the lack of teaching materials,
or the digital gap, which leaves a large number of these children outside the
system. He considers it relevant to “rethink” education and influence
public policies so that governments adopt measures that protect the most
vulnerable sectors and invest heavily in education.
One of the reasons why more and more migration
will take place in the future is the deterioration of the environment. Pedro
Walpole SJ has lived in the Philippines for more than 40 years and coordinates
the network on Ecology, Ecojesuit. He insists vehemently that in the
coming years, temperatures will reach maximums and that water scarcity will be
an increasing problem. Also that the continuous
violation of planetary limits, in particular the destruction of habitats and
the loss of biodiversity by disastrous land use changes from the Amazon to
Australia, has made COVID-19 and future pandemics inevitable. COVID-19 is now
understood as part of a broader ecological crisis of land-use change and
climate change that encompasses social, health, business and, increasingly,
fiscal and political systems.
The Justice in Mining network brings together Jesuit Social Centers
and Jesuit Organizations that work to accompany communities affected by mining
in different regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia, addressing the public
debate on the development model that often generates these impacts. Its
coordinator, Guillermo Otano of ALBOAN, points out that the global scope of the
COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation of many of the communities that
live in poverty, despite inhabiting territories rich in natural goods, and
suffer from a lack of structural access to education, health and other basic
needs. It denounces the reduction of civic space and freedoms, the danger of
the confinement situation for human rights defenders, the impact of confinement
measures on artisanal mining or the interruptions in mineral supply chains. In
its position paper, it puts forward various measures
and recommendations.
The GIAN networks actions will focus, among
others, on denouncing rights violations, making proposals and accompanying the
most vulnerable people and communities.