On line on December 19th, 20th and 21st, an experiment from SIR Daily News in English. The service will officially start on January 9th 2006
Religious freedom in Albania and migration in Europe: these are the major subjects addressed by the chairmanship of the Conference of the European Churches (Kek/Cec) that met lately in Geneva in the run-up to the meeting of the Central Committee due in Northern Ireland by late May 2006. In one of today’s releases, the Kek wrote that "two statements have been approved" on such subjects. "In many European countries (Albania, Serbia-Montenegro, Turkey) the first document, on religious freedom, reads the issue of the restitution of the confiscated church properties and the reopening of places of worship and religious education is still a serious concern… The Kek is asking the governments of those countries to support and promote human and religious rights and to do all they can for the places of worship that had been confiscated during the Communist regime to be given back to the community of the devotees”. Then, referring to the sad events of Ceuta and Melilla and the recent outbursts of violence in France, the Kek’s chair stated, in the second release (about migration), that "in Europe, the Churches advocate the need of protecting the refugees and a humane approach to migration policies”. In inviting the EU member countries to ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Immigrant Workers, the Kek said: “We recognise that the States have the right and duty to check their borders, but, at the same time, they are also bound to protect the refugees and not to close their borders indiscriminately". The Kek’s members are 125 European churches, including Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic churches, as well as 40 affiliated organisations.
