Mr. Chairman,

The increasing number of people on the move across the globe, especially the vast majority of those forcibly displaced by lack of survival opportunities, by violence and climate change, has raised new and complex demands for solidarity, humanitarian assistance and protection.

The challenge to international organisations, governments and the civil society comes from the fact that, while necessity is the common factor that pushes these people out of their country, the legal norms that define their status apply differently and in some cases are blurred or even disregarded.

Migrant workers, convention refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of smuggling and trafficking, are all categories of persons included in current policy discussions.

The International Organisation for Migration, sensitive to the evolving situation, commendably has begun to deepen its own approach, in collaboration with other partners, to a major concern in the management of migration—and a sign of its present inadequacy: irregular migrants.

To read Msgr. Tomasi's statement in its entirety, please see the pdf file below.

Holy See statement on irregular migration (102.76 KB)