The increase in human movement within and among nations is also a sign of and a call to the broader family—one human family. The challenge is to develop ways to strengthen the family, both at individual and global levels, including especially by reclaiming the human right to family life and unity for migrants and refugees.

For far too long now there has been a trend to disintegrate human family in migration policies and approaches: to focus separately upon children, women, single workers, now even DNA—and rarely even mention families. Migrants and refugees must once again be recognized yet again, not only as members of human families that provide protection and assistance to one another in a first instance, but also as holders of fundamental human rights in family. ICMC continues to see and appreciate this daily in the work we do on the ground with families that are confronting extraordinary difficulties together, absorbing and prevailing against hardships, contributing to society and helping others along the way.

As the Holy Father observes in his message for the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the world of migrants “... knows wonderful and promising experiences, as well as, unfortunately, so many others that are tragic and unworthy of the human being and of societies that claim to be civil.” We see millions of families separated and left behind by international migration. Family de-unification is a major and under-attended problem not only for children and families themselves, but also for social cohesion in countries of destination as well as origin. Laws and processes must preserve the universal right to family unity and to family life, including reunification of close family members with migrants in countries in which they live and work, especially for long periods of time.

If—further inspired by migrants and refugees and the way human mobility is connecting people and the world in unprecedented ways—it is possible to recognize that we are all one human family, then we will also recognize the fact, and the beauty, of our interdependence and global fraternity. What affects one affects all; what one has and produces can be for the good of all; when one is in need the other and others can respond.

Recognizing that we are one human family will bring us to cooperate, in particular, in favor of the poor and powerless as our own brothers and sisters. As the Holy Father encourages, “Human brotherhood is the, at times, surprising, experience of a relationship that unites, of a profound bond with the other, different from me, based on the simple fact of being human beings.” ... “It fosters a life of communion and sharing with all and in particular with migrants: it supports the gift of self to others, for their good, for the good of all, in the local, national and world political communities.”

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For further information, please contact ICMC Communications at +41 22 919 10 20 or ryan@icmc.net<.

Press release: World Day of Refugees (380.43 KB)

Communiqué de press: Journée mondiale du Migrant et du Réfugié (460.81 KB)

Nota de prensa: Jornada Mundial del Emigrante y del Refugiado del 2011 (436.75 KB)