На русском языке:
Группа «Христианское видение» направила письмо представителю Ватикана
На беларускай мове:
Група «Хрысціянскае бачанне» накіравала ліст прадстаўніку Ватыкана
The telegram channel of the Working Group «Christian Vision» of the Coordination Council sent a letter to Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States, after he spoke about the migration crisis on the border of Belarus and Poland.
During Gallagher’s meeting with Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the representative of the Holy See, in particular, said: «Our position is that we call on authorities across Europe to take responsibility for migrants and refugees. We call on all parties to assume their responsibilities and address this very serious humanitarian crisis».
The Christian Vision group wrote a letter welcoming His Eminence’s call to all stakeholders to take responsibility for the crisis. «We assume that the Belarusian regime is considered one of these parties, and Belarus is considered as part of the European family. Unfortunately, due to media manipulation, this appeal was presented as addressed only to the countries and authorities of the European Union, especially because it mentioned Poland as an example. We would like to ask Your Eminence for a more detailed and clear position on the current crisis, including the role of the regime of Alexander Lukashenka and the heroic efforts of the Belarusian civil society.
We, the representatives of the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches of Belarus – clerics, theologians and active laity – proceed from the understanding that a humanitarian crisis on the border of the EU and Belarus would not have been possible if the Belarusian authorities had adhered to their legal obligations to respect human rights and international obligations towards their own citizens, as well as those seeking asylum in Belarus or abroad», — is said in the letter.
In addition, the letter draws attention to the fact that the humanitarian crisis in Belarus is not only related to migration, but is systemic in nature and only deepens: «Due to lawlessness, injustice and deviation from the basic principles of the social state, any person in Belarus, whether a citizen of the country or a refugee, is at risk of humiliation of his human dignity, violation of his rights, abduction and/or unlawful detention. The authorities’ resistance to the use of the basic preventive measures necessary in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the obstruction of access to credible vaccines, the ban on public activities for many non-governmental organizations and churches, the persecution of human rights defenders and journalists – all this exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Belarus and puts the country on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe».
The full text of the letter is available in Russian and English.
