Pope says refugee youths have right to stability, serenity, security

Published: 2007-11-28

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Children have a right to "stability, serenity and security," Pope Benedict XVI said, urging that more be done in providing these essential conditions to young people trapped in refugee camps. In his message for the annual World Day for Migrants and Refugees, the pope highlighted young people whose futures are jeopardized by being forced migrants, victims of human trafficking or refugees. The text for the pope's 2008 message, "Young Migrants," was released during a Nov. 28 press conference at the Vatican. The World Day for Migrants and Refugees is held on different days in different countries. In the United States, National Migration Week will be celebrated Jan. 6-12. The world cannot "remain silent before the distressing images of the great refugee camps" where children and young people live segregated "far from inhabited towns with no possibility normally to attend school," he said.

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