Society
An open letter to the Dutch Government and Parliament was sent by Cordaid and Justice and Peace, along with a group of charity and welfare organisations, on International Migrants Day “as a moral appeal to the government and parliament”. They ask that, “as soon as possible”, the Third Rutte Cabinet “should work out a political framework and allocate resources” to a migratory and development policy that is “humane, that puts the protection of human rights and dignity, especially those of the most vulnerable ones, at the centre”. Quoting Pope Francis’s message, they write that “homing, protecting, supporting and including migrants also mean to call the government and parliament “to lay the foundations to enable” so many parishes and diaconal agencies to keep working hard as they have been doing for such a long time now. Mgr. Gerard de Korte, director of the Church and Society Committee at the Dutch Bishops Conference, one of those who signed the letter, pointed out: “We read Pope Francis’s appeal as a challenge for each one of us, in our area”. Sebastiaan van der Zwaan, director of Justice and Peace, placed emphasis on the need for “the government to develop a sustainable social-inclusion policy that makes the most of the local social potential”, that “lets refugees build a new life in the Netherlands”, in the interest of refugees as well as in the interest of “Dutch society as a whole”.
