Pope Francis called on nations working to develop a global compact on refugees to make sure they help ensure migration is safe, legal and humane.
While nations work to forge proper policies, every individual, “each of us, is called to draw near to refugees and find with them moments of encounter, to value their contribution so that they, too, can be better included in the communities that receive them,” the pope said on 17th June.
“It is by these encounters and with this mutual respect and support that there is an answer many problems,” he said.
The pope’s remarks came at the end of his Angelus address in St Peter’s Square.
He reminded people of World Refugee Day on 20th June.
Picture: Syrian refugees wait outside their shelters in late January at Zaatari camp near Mafraq, Jordan. (CNS photo/Muhammad Hamed, Reuters).