Paul Keenan
The head of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has called on member countries of the European Union to act together in solving the dangerous realities for migrants taking great risks to reach Europe.
During an October 10 meeting with the European Commission’s President José Manuel Barroso in the wake of the Lampedusa tragedy, Cardinal Marx stressed that “the EU is not an abstract international body. It is a union of peoples, of women and men who believe in a set of principles, among which the most vital one is: human dignity.”
Solidarity
“The EU is also a Union of 28 Member States which have committed themselves to solidarity among one another, and towards the rest of the world.” Criticising the policy of preventing “those in need reaching our shores”, the cardinal insisted “this is not the Europe we want” and called on members states to effectively tackle the challenge of migration. “An urgent priority of the EU Council of Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs should be an agreement on a significant resettlement quota for every EU member state…We will only manage to prevent such tragedies in the future if we tackle more effectively the crisis outside Europe that cause these migrations. We must help the developing and less developed countries.
“After this tragedy, Europeans should advocate the setting of more ambitious Millenium Development Goals (MDG) to fight poverty.
“The ultimate answer to the current refugee and migration challenge with which the EU is confronted is Global Justice.”
