50 MILLION REFUGEES, DISPLACED PERSONS CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Renato Martino, spoke before the Third Committee of the 54th session of the U.N.'s General Assembly yesterday on Item 111, Report of the UNHCR, Questions Relating to Refugees, Returnees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Questions.

"Uprooted, humiliated, deprived of dignity and identity," he said, "millions stand in unfamiliar surroundings calling for help. There is no security for their lives, no guarantee for their future and hopes for a safe return home vanish with time. These catastrophes are willed, prepared and executed by men against fellow men, against women, children and older persons, against the sick and dying."

Archbishop Martino focussed on the urgent need to create "an effective legal instrument to protect internally displaced persons." He said that "the question of refugees and displaced persons, who have every right to lead a normal life is ... a matter of conscience. Almost fifty million of them appeal to the conscience of the international community, not begging for mercy, but crying for justice."

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