Vatican
City, 12 December 2013 (VIS) – Trafficking in human beings, a real
form of slavery which affects all countries, including the most
developed, was the theme chosen by Pope Francis in his address to
sixteen new non-resident ambassadors and one diplomatic
representative to the Holy See. These were the ambassadors to Algeria
(Boudejamaa Delmi), Iceland (Martin Eyjolfsson), Denmark (Lars
Vissing), Lesotho (Lineo Lydia Khechane Ntoane), Sierra Leone
(Ibrahim Sorie), Cape Verde (Emanuel Antero Garcia da Veiga), Burundi
(Edouard Bizimana), Malta (George Gregory Buttigieg), Sweden
(Lars-Hjalmar Wide), Pakistan (Aman Rashid), Zambia (Paul William
Lumbi), Norway (Thomas Hauff), Kuwait (Bader Saleh Al-Tunaib),
Burkina Faso (Yemdaogo Eric Tiare), Uganda (Marcel R. Tibaleka) and
Jordan (Makram Mustafa Al Queisi) and the diplomatic representative
of Palestine (Isa Jamil Kassissieh).
The
Holy Father spoke about the numerous initiatives undertaken by the
international community to promote peace, dialogue, cultural
relations, politics and economics, as well as aid to populations
affected by difficulties of various types, and went on to consider
the question of trafficking in human beings which “affects the most
vulnerable people in society: women, children, the disabled, the
poorest and those who come from situations of family or social
disintegration”.
In
these persons, in a special way, Christians recognise the face of
Jesus, who identified with the smallest and the neediest among us.
Others, who do not refer to a religious faith, in the name of our
common humanity share our compassion for their suffering and the
commitment to free them and to tend to their wounds. Together we can
and must take action to free the victims of human trafficking and to
put an end to this horrible trade”.
Francis
commented that there are millions of victims of forced labour, of the
trade in persons for the purposes of manpower or for sexual
exploitation, and exclaimed, “this cannot continue; it constitutes
a grave violation of the human rights of the victims and an offence
to their dignity, as well as a defeat for the global community. All
persons of good will, whether they profess a religion or not, cannot
allow these women, these men and these children to be treated as
objects, deceived, violated, often repeatedly sold, for various
purposes, and at the end either killed or ruined physically and
mentally, to end up discarded and abandoned. It is shameful”.
“The
trafficking of persons is a crime against humanity. … It is
necessary to accept our common responsibility, and demonstrate more
decisive political will to be victorious on this front.
Responsibility towards those who have fallen victim to trafficking,
to protect their rights, to ensure their safety and that of their
families, and to prevent the corrupt and criminals from eluding
justice and having the last word. Adequate legislative action in the
countries of origin, transit and arrival, also in order to facilitate
the regularity of migration, may reduce the problem”.
“Governments
and the international community, who are the first to be responsible
for preventing and impeding this phenomenon, have not failed to take
measures at various levels to block it and to protect and assist the
victims of this crime, not infrequently linked to trade in drugs,
arms, the transportation of illegal immigrants and the mafia.
Unfortunately, we cannot deny the involvement, at times, of public
officials and members of peace missions”.
However,
to effectively combat this scourge, it is necessary for action to
extend to the fields of culture and communication, and for us to
examine our consciences, asking ourselves “how many times do we
accept that a human being is considered as an object, displayed to
sell a product or to satisfy immoral desires? The human person must
never be bought and sold like merchandise. Whoever uses and exploits
human beings, even indirectly, becomes complicit in their
oppression”.
“I
wanted to share with you my reflections on a social wound of our
times, because I believe in the value and the strength of concerted
commitment in combating it”, the Pope explained. “Therefore, I
exhort the international community to adopt an even more unanimous
and effective strategy against human trafficking, so that in every
part of the world, men and women may no longer be used as a means to
an end, and that their inviolable dignity may always be respected”.
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