Spain – Urgent help for the refugees in the Ivory Coast |
Spain – An urgent appeal from Salesian Missions |
The complete text states:
For months we have been following the news from the Ivory Coast after the legislative elections held in November 2010. The situation of conflict, which from the beginning was serious, has deteriorated in recent days. Official information is lacking and what news there is confused, but the number of the dead, wounded and refugees has increased alarmingly in the last few days.
The communities of the Salesians and of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians during all this time have been cautious in their communications with us and in their public statements. But the situation is extremely serious: the indiscriminate killing of civilians, violations of fundamental human rights, frontiers closed, curfews and the lack of access to basic services and primary needs.
VOLS and the Salesian Family have been and are united with the Ivory Coast: missionaries of the Salesians and of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, volunteers who have been in the country for a long or a short time, who are working on over 30 projects of cooperation.
Because of our links, of the missionary tradition and of voluntary service in the Ivory Coast, thinking of the children, the young people, the families, the members of the Salesian Family, of colleagues and friends in the country, at this time of powerlessness we express our hopes and prayers for peace.
We express our hope that peace be restored as soon as possible; our public condemnation of the war, unjust as all others; our appeal to the international community to work for peace; our commitment to spread information and to condemn publicly whatever our “Salesian presences” allow us to; our commitment to collaborate with our “Salesian presences” at the appropriate time, in their work for the restoration of normal conditions in the country.
In this way with the hope that peace may come as quickly as possible, we invite everyone to open their eyes in the face of this war and not to allow it to become a forgotten and distant conflict.
Published 27/04/2011