By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) — The global economic crisis is having a doubly negative effect on migrants and refugees: Low-wage jobs are disappearing and resentment of foreigners is growing, said the head of Caritas Internationalis.
Lesley-Anne Knight, secretary-general of the umbrella organization of Catholic charities, said, “As the world sinks deeper into economic recession, borders are closing, jobs are disappearing and life is becoming harder for refugees and migrants everywhere.”
Knight and Jesuit Father Peter Balleis, international director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, spoke May 20 in Rome at the opening of an exhibition of photographs of refugees titled “Respecting Strangers: Replacing Fear With Welcome.”
Father Balleis, whose agency organized the exhibit along with Loyola University of Chicago’s Rome center, said the photographs show the dignity and courage of the refugees.
“They are just normal people who have been thrown into abnormal circumstances by powers beyond their control, driven by economic and political interests, often far removed from their lives,” the Jesuit said.
While they are seeking safety and protection in a foreign land, refugees too often are greeted with fear and hostility, he said.
Knight cited U.N. statistics that report that one in every 50 people — more than 150 million people around the world — lives outside his or her homeland as a migrant or refugee.
She said that while the Rome photo exhibit visually narrates stories of courage in the face of hardship, if the exhibit had a soundtrack, unfortunately it would consist of “the sound of doors slamming shut.”
“As people become fearful for their own futures, the stranger becomes the target of anger and resentment,” she said.
Migrants and refugees tend to be the first to lose their jobs, “not only because their status is called into question, but also because they are employed in sectors particularly affected by the economic crisis,” she said.
Added to their economic difficulties, they face more social difficulties because incidents of discrimination, including violent attacks, tend to increase when people are struggling financially or are out of work, Knight said.
The Caritas leader told her audience that she was watching a nature documentary recently and “it made me think how strange it is that we can marvel at the extraordinary diversity in nature — so many different varieties of birds, flowers, mammals, insects and fish — and yet we seem incapable of appreciating the equally wonderful diversity within our own species.”
“How wonderful it would be if the arrival of a stranger in our midst were welcomed with the same excitement and wonder we feel on spotting a rare bird or discovering an exotic flower growing in our garden,” she said.