-CWS
London-
María Alejandra Andrade Vinueza-
The migrant crisis which has recently featured in the headlines of newspapers around the world is presenting a major problem for governments who must decide how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people crossing their borders in order to flee violence, discrimination and poverty. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by mid-2015 the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations surpassed 60 million, which is the highest number in twenty years (UNHCR, 2015; 3). More than 15 million are refugees (UNHCR, 2015; 4) and more than 33 million of international migrants worldwide are under the age of 20 (51 per cent) (UNHCR, 2015; 3) (Save the Children, 2014). Migration as a phenomenon is not recent, and its implications continue to be a challenge for individuals, international and local agencies and countries (European Commission, 2016). This issue has become even more important as the overall response from worldwide governments to this crisis reflects the failure of politics (The Conversation, 2016), which is leading many sectors of civil society to react, providing humanitarian assistance and advocating for a more human, consistent and sustainable response (Zugasti I, 2016; 5). The Church is one of the sectors involved.
Read the complete material here: Spirituality-and-resilience-Jun16-rev
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The author worked as Regional Campaign Coordinator for World Vision International-Of. Regional
Study Master of Arts, International Child Studies at King’s College London