GENEVA, 16 November 2013 (ICMC) – Tolerating difference is not always easy: when people move across borders, tensions can arise. On the International Day of Tolerance, the International Catholic Migration Commission, stresses that the diversity makes nations -- and the world -- richer.

Intolerance puts basic human rights at risk. Many migrants and refugees struggle to integrate into new countries and are victims of xenophobia. Furthermore, millions of migrants are denied their human and labour rights.

Showing respect for humanity in every person – regardless of their faith, ethnicity, or nationality – is at the essence of tolerance and remains the centre of the of ICMC’s work. Combatting intolerance and xenophobia is among the main challenges in protecting displaced people. In 1996, the United Nations General Assembly invited Member States to observe the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November, organizing awareness-raising for schools and and the general public.

That is why ICMC in April joined faith-based humanitarian organizations and academic institutions in drafting “Welcoming the Stranger: Affirmations for Faith Leaders”, a Code of Conduct to help faith leaders in combatting xenophobia and fostering support for migrants, refugees and other forcibly displaced people. Today is the occasion to reaffirm these principles, through the voices of our beneficiaries and of our staff.

ICMC tolerance in action: Welcoming Syrians in Jordan

Tolerance is about sharing the little one has with those in need, even if they are strangers.

With the Syria crisis well into its second year, neighbouring countries are still lending their support to Syrian refugees. In spite of its limited resources, the Jordanian Government has kept its borders open to Syrians, welcoming over 550,000 refugees – 75 per cent of whom in urban areas.

As the 1,000 Syrian refugee families living in his desert village of Bani Khaled, just 1 km from the Za’atri refugee camp, struggled to find somewhere to live, Mansour decided to do something to help.

Along with his father, he built a house in his garden to host a family. Mohammed, along with his wife and their two daughters who had been living in a tent pitched on the roadside, moved into the home in June. Mansour has not charged them rent and has no intention to – in fact, he has already started building another house for a second Syrian family.

“Thanks to Mansour, we now have a house to call home,” said Mohammed. “If it wasn’t for this assistance, for the generosity of our Jordanian brothers, I would have given up and returned to Syria.”

ICMC, with funding by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, contributed 500 US dollars for Mansour to purchase construction material to build the home. In total the construction cost more than 2,000 JD (3,000 USD). The remainder he paid on his own.

ICMC staff on tolerance

Operating the Resettlement Support Centre for Turkey and the Middle East (RSC TuME), ICMC helps process resettlement applications and provides cultural orientation classes to tens of thousands of refugees of over 30 nationalities - persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

Here, ICMC facilitates the resettlement of refugees to the United States. By the end of fiscal year 2013, the U.S. had welcomed almost 70,000 refugees - of whom 7,252 individuals were processed by ICMC’s RSC TuME.

In discussing the importance of tolerance in her work, Linda Samardzic, RSCTuME Director said:

To me, tolerance means accepting ones religious beliefs, political opinions, behaviour, culture and customs that may be different to mine. Not only do we work with people from different ethnic, religious, social and educational backgrounds, we also practice what we preach. When we employee staff, we look for the qualities they possess and what contributions they can make to our work and organization.

ICMC Turkey and Beirut has a reputation for being good in what we do. One of the main reasons behind this is because we have an excellent and diverse staff ranging from age, gender, nationality, religious beliefs and so on. I often hear that differences create problems but differences can also bring people closer together.

In order for these families to become fully participating citizens of their new communities, they must receive integration support. After speaking with an Iraqi refugee family resettled to Texas, Lucy Bullock, ICMC Donor Relations Manager in Boston, said integration, which stems from tolerance, is a two-way process of change that can only strengthen communities in the country where migrants arrive:

Tolerance builds strong communities and sustains them for future generations. It also preserves peace and promotes progress towards preserving human rights. ICMC Boston has followed the story of an Iraqi family that were refugees in Istanbul, who are now resettled in Texas. Their community has embraced them; the father has found a job in IT for a corporation in Houston and is enrolled at a local university. Their teenage son attends a high school where he is excelling. The family continues to plant roots in their new community, but has been accepted and encouraged by their neighbours. The success of this family shows that tolerance is spreading throughout the world as we work to forge stronger community connections.

-- by Vanessa Matyas/lb

Photocredit: Visual interpretation of tolerance by a beneficary from ICMC Malaysia<.