POPE ASKS FOR BAN ON ALL FORMS OF FORCED HUMAN MOBILITY

VATICAN CITY, JUL 29, 2001 (VIS) - At noon today Pope John Paul appeared at the balcony overlooking the inner courtyard of the apostolic palace at Castelgandolfo to greet the faithful gathered below and to recite the Angelus prayer with them.

In reflections he made before reciting the Marian prayer, the Pope noted that "yesterday, July 28, the United Nations celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. This is an important agreement which is still the foundation on which the international protection of refugees is based, having been ratified by about 140 countries, including the Holy See."

He added that "for the nations involved in the Second World War, the past 50 years have been substantially years of peace. But there has been no lack of conflicts in the world for which the number of refugees and forced migrations has unfortunately been on the increase. On the other hand, numerous and serious cases of default in applying the Geneva Convention have been registered. One sign of hope, however, comes from the commitment with which the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is working to verify the efficacy of the Convention and its correspondence to current realities. I hope that, thanks to such an important effort for a higher level of protection and solidarity, the basic right to asylum is never lacking those who need it."

The Holy Father urged "that every form of forced human mobility be banned so that persons, families and social groups can safeguard their own roots and identities."

John Paul II and the faithful then recited the Angelus, following which he greeted the pilgrims briefly in French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish.

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