Pope exhorts Ambassadors to help stop human trafficking

Vatican City, 12 December 2013: Pope Francis received in audience a group of non-resident Ambassadors to the Holy See on Thursday in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. They presented their letters of credentials on the occasion. Among them were the Ambassadors from Pakistan, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, Iceland, Denmark, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, Burundi, Malta, Sweden, Zambia, Norway, Burkina Faso, and Uganda.

While addressing them, Pope Francis appreciated the ‘many initiatives of the international community to promote peace and dialogue. And then the Pontiff went on to speak on human trafficking. This is a true form of slavery, said the Pope, adding, it is increasingly common, and affects every country, even the most developed, and touches the most vulnerable people of society – women, boys and girls, the disabled, and the poor.

In them, said Pope Francis, we Christians recognize the face of Jesus Christ, who has identified himself with the little ones and the needy. And those who do not profess any religious faith, share compassion for the victims in the name of common humanity. Together we can and we must strive for their liberation and put an end to this horrific trade.

We talk about the millions of victims of forced labor, human trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation. This cannot continue. It is a serious violation of human rights of the victims and an affront to their dignity as well as a defeat for the world community. People of goodwill, who profess religion or not, cannot allow these women, men, and children treated as objects. They are cheated, raped, often sold several times, and eventually killed, or discarded or abandoned. It's a shame.
Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. We must join forces to free the victims and stop this increasingly aggressive crime.
Only through the power of shared responsibility and a strong political will, can we be able to win this. It is our responsibility toward those who have fallen victims of trafficking, to protect their rights, and to ensure the safety of their family members, and to prevent the corrupt and criminals evading justice. An appropriate legislative intervention in the countries of origin, transit and arrival, in order to facilitate regular migration, can reduce the problem.

Pope Francis appreciated the Governments and the international community, which have the primary responsibility of preventing this phenomenon, for taking measures to protect and assist the victims of this crime. However, we cannot deny that sometimes even members of peace keeping missions are engaged in this. Human person should never be bought and sold like a commodity.

I share these reflections on a social evil of our times, concluded the Pope, because I believe in the value and strength of a concerted effort to combat it. Source: VR Sedoc