Asia: "A Continent on the Move" at round table on migrations

Rome (AsiaNews) The round table dedicated to Asia: A Continent on the Move will be one of key events at the 7th International Meeting on Migrations organised by the Scalabrinian Fathers and lay Scalabrinians in Loreto (Italy) from July 25 till August 1. Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, will also take part in the discussions.

In the year of the European Union's expansion, its new Constitution, and the European Year of Rights, Migrant Citizens in the New Europe: Mobility and Rights is the central theme of the meeting. It highlights the importance that to be "whole" a society must recognise all its citizens (as individuals and as members of groups) as "full subjects," bearers of rights and obligations. This is even more so for migrants whose status is such that they are often deprived of individual and collective rights in many political and social domains. Indeed, national laws tend to privilege citizens and impose discriminatory practices on migrants. Even European Union (EU) laws protect citizens of member states whilst imposing restrictions on non EU citizens.

If any discussion concerning rights must give some thought to what the concept of "citizenship" means and how it relates to that of nationality, it must also explore the nature of single rights and how they are enforced, especially insofar as resident immigrants and non EU immigrants in particular are concerned.

The 7th Loreto Meeting can serve as a privileged forum to air ideas about the theoretical and practical circumstances surrounding the rights of migrants. It can do so by taking into account the general nature of such rights as defined in the proposed UN Charter on Migrant Workers and in the emerging EU Constitution and legislation.

With this in the backdrop, the round table will discuss the rights of migrants in Asia next Friday, July 30. In addition to Cardinal Funmio Hamao, E. Leonida L. Vera (ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See), Chou-seng Tou (ambassador of the Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan), and Father Graziano Battistella (dean of the Scalabrinian International Migration Institute, SIMI, in Rome) will take part in the discussion. Father Arnaldo De Vidi (Cem Mondialità) will act as moderator.

e-mail this to a friend

Asia: "A Continent on the Move" at round table on migrations

Asia: "A Continent on the Move" at round table on migrations

e-mail this to a friend

To:

From:

Enter the verification code:

New city named for al Sisi is to be built a stone's throw from Rafah