Pope meets trafficking victims, encourages Santa Marta
Group
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met in the Vatican on Thursday with participants
at
an international conference on combatting human trafficking. The Santa
Marta Group, which organised the two day conference, was established in
2014 to pledge closer cooperation on anti-trafficking initiatives between the
Catholic Church and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
At
a concluding press conference Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster,
one of the founding members of the group, and two survivors of human
trafficking spoke of the progress that has been made over the past couple of
years.
In
his words to the group of bishops and religious, police and security officials,
Pope Francis described trafficking as "one of the major challenges of our
time" and he praised participants for the important contribution they’re
making to end this scourge of modern slavery.
The
number of victims, he noted, keeps growing year by year and it’s essential both
to support victims of trafficking, but also to tackle the complex problems that
lead to their exploitation.
Cardinal
Nichols told journalists the group had presented the pope with the a report of
positive developments in the 30 countries that are now part of the Santa Marta process...
“Above
all perhaps, what this report shows is that human slavery and trafficking is
not so hidden as it used to be. There is an increasing awareness that this, in
the phrase of the Holy Father, is an open wound in the flesh of humanity, and
that voices that were once completely hidden are now being heard”.
Those
voices include that of Nigerian survivor Princess Inyang, who was
trafficked into Italy in 1999 and forced into prostitution, until she was able
to escape, with help from a priest working in the northern city of Asti. She
shared her story at the conference and called for deportation of the
traffickers, as well as more education and skills training for vulnerable girls
in her home country...
“The
women are vulnerable because of the poverty in Nigeria, the background of the
polygamy system of the families, the non-employment, and now we know that the
traffickers go into the rural areas to get these young women because of their
serious problems”.
Another
survivor, who also works to help others avoid the traffickers, is former
Premier League player Al Bangura, originally from Sierra Leone. A keen
footballer from an early age, he was tricked into going to England with
promises of a dream career. He managed to escape the traffickers and now serves
as ambassador for a UK based charity called Sport for Freedom.
“With
everything I’ve been through, I want to be out there to share my story, to
educate kids and talk to parents who’re desperate for their kids to achieve….we
also work with the Premiership… to make sure the kids are going in the rights
direction and make sure we stop this slavery thing.”
From
Africa to Latin America, from Asia to Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, the
conference heard many encouraging stories of success in combatting the trade in
people for prostitution, forced labour or sale of their body parts. But as
their report also underlines, there is much frustration too, coupled with a
renewed determination to work more effectively together for an end to what Pope
Francis himself describes as a “crime against humanity”.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét