The Conference of the European Churches (KEK), which recently ended its 22nd assembly in Trondheim, will reinforce its cooperation with the Commission of the Churches for Migrants in Europe (CCME) with a view to mobilizing the European Churches against racism and xenophobia and defending the rights of migrants and refugees. These are “fields in which an intensification of ecumenical cooperation is desirable”, declared KEK general secretary Keith Clements. “All the Churches belonging to KEK will gradually join in the work being coordinated by the Commission”, added CCME chairperson Annemarie Dupré. Right of asylum, the trafficking in human beings, racism and xenophobia are the main issues on which CCMI has concentrated its attention in recent years. Together with other Christian organizations, it is closely monitoring the development of EU legislation on immigration and asylum. The KEK assembly also made an appeal to all European governments to ratify the UN treaty on the protection of the rights of migrant workers (of whom there are some 175 million in the world) and their families. The treaty came into force in 22 states on 1st July, but none of the major industrialized countries have so far ratified it.
