Lettera all’Europa: flusso di migranti, flusso di denaro
Il Provinciale della Germania, il presidente della Conferenza dei Provinciali gesuiti di Africa e Madagascar e quello dell’Austria sono tra i firmatari di una petizione di giustizia, una protesta contro ogni discorso che descriva i migranti come una minaccia alla stabilità e alla prosperità europea.
Davanti ai Capi di Stato dell’Unione Europea a Salisburgo, i gesuiti di Africa ed Europa hanno espresso le loro preoccupazioni in base a una nuova ricerca. I PP. Johannes Siebner (Provinciale della Germania), Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator (Presidente della Conferenza dei Provinciali gesuiti di Africa e Madagascar – JCAM), e Bernhard Bürgler (Provinciale dell’Austria) sono tra i firmatari della lettera congiunta intitolata “Flusso di migranti, flusso di denaro”, una petizione di giustizia.
Si tratta di una protesta contro ogni discorso che descriva i migranti come una minaccia alla stabilità e alla prosperità europea, il trattamento della migrazione dall’Africa come un crimine (“migrazione illegale”).
Invece di accanirsi sui sintomi, sostengono, bisogna occuparsi delle cause sottostanti all’origine di queste ondate migratorie, come ad esempio i flussi finanziari illeciti, che impediscono lo sviluppo dei Paesi africani.
Di seguito la notizia completa e il testo della lettera
Ahead of the upcoming EU Heads of state meeting in Salzburg, Jesuits in Africa and Europe express concern based on original research. Johannes Siebner SJ (Provincial of the German Jesuit Province), Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator SJ (President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar – JCAM), Bernhard Bürgler SJ (Provincial of the Austrian Jesuit Province) were among many of the signatories of a joint letter titled “Flows of migrants, flows of money”, a petition for justice.
They protest against any narrative depicting migrants as a threat to Europe’s stability and prosperity, the treatment of migration from Africa as a criminal offence (“illegal migration”).
Rather than going tough on symptoms, they argue, there is need to deal with the underlying root causes for those migratory movements, e.g. illicit financial flows, which prevent African countries from developing.
“Currently there is more money leaving Africa in illicit financial flows through aggressive tax evasion and money laundering, than is entering Africa in combined developmental aid and foreign direct investment. If Europe would support African governments in curbing those outflows, African states could secure much more funds for investing in infrastructure, education, and healthcare. This would, in the long run, keep Africans in Africa and ultimately curb illegal migration,” says Fr Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM).
In the fight against illegal migration, Europe and Africa need more cooperation at various policy levels. The Jesuit Provincials of Germany and Austria, Frs Johannes Siebner and Bernhard Bürgler add: “We perceive a lot of mutual benefit in developing and deepening relationships, for example, those based on a fairer trade system and exchange of technology versus one-way natural resources extraction or even balancing the demographic decline in Europe with demographic growth in Africa. Europe and Africa are in fact bound together as signatories to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Accord, to the forthcoming Global Compact on Migration and several other accords. All this has to be transferred into pragmatic and binding political and legal instruments for mutual benefit. We, Jesuits, are willing to help build bridges so that this will come about. These are topics worth discussing at the forthcoming informal EU Summit in Salzburg; not border fortification, abandonment of the ‘Sophia’ mission, the closing of harbours, deportations or establishment of regional reception centers in North Africa.”
So far, no reply has been given by the Austrian government. Today, 18th September, ahead of the informal EU-Summit in Salzburg, the Jesuits went public on their initiative with a press release.
qui il testo della lettera dei provinciali
