Daily Archives: April 20, 2015

Church

The Catholic Church is Anti-Xenophobia

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has observed with sadness the outburst of xenophobic violence in Durban which the Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier has already condemned.

Our charter, the bible, is very clear “When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God”. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

We understand the anger that the people may be feeling towards the foreigners for various legitimate reasons. However, we are a nation of peace; we are a rainbow nation. We conquered apartheid with very little use of violence and a settlement was reached peacefully. The same principle of Ubuntu needs to be applied in order to calm the recent spates of violence and unrest. Continue reading The Catholic Church is Anti-Xenophobia →

Terrorism

The only way to end terrorism is to address its causes and uphold the law

Refugees at the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya. AFP FILE PHOTO
Refugees at the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya. AFP FILE PHOTO

News reports state that work on building the 700-kilometre wall between Kenya and Somalia has started. There has been no public procurement, as required, so we don’t know its cost.

Now remember that suspect procurements have landed many people on the famous anti-corruption list. Will it now be updated to include the public officers who have authorized these works, which started with the digging of ditches in Kiunga, Lamu? Continue reading The only way to end terrorism is to address its causes and uphold the law →

poverty

Investigation Tears Veil Off World Bank’s “Promise” to Eradicate Poverty

Nearly 50 percent of the estimated 3.4 million people who were physically or economically displaced by World Bank-funded projects in the last decade were from Africa and Asia. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh/IPS
Nearly 50 percent of the estimated 3.4 million people who were physically or economically displaced by World Bank-funded projects in the last decade were from Africa and Asia. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 16 2015 (IPS) – An expose published Thursday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners has revealed that in the course of a single decade, 3.4 million people were evicted from their homes, torn away from their lands or otherwise displaced by projects funded by the World Bank.

Over 50 journalists from 21 countries worked for nearly 12 months to systematically analyze the bank’s promise to protect vulnerable communities from the negative impacts of its own projects. Continue reading Investigation Tears Veil Off World Bank’s “Promise” to Eradicate Poverty →

Kenya, Peace

Pope meets Kenyan Bishops

keyanPope Francis met with the Bishops from Kenya on Thursday morning. The bishops are in Rome on their ad Limina visit. In his prepared remarks the Holy Father said “the Church in Kenya must always be true to her mission as an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace.”

The full text of the Pope’s address to the Kenyan Bishops follows:

Dear Brother Bishops,

I offer you my fraternal welcome on the occasion of your visit ad Limina Apostolorum as you make your pilgrimage to the tombs of Blessed Peter and Paul. Your time in the Eternal City and your visits to the offices of the Roman Curia provide numerous opportunities to deepen communion between the Church in Kenya and the See of Peter. I thank Cardinal Njue for his warm words on your behalf and in the name of the priests, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful of Kenya. I ask you kindly to assure them of my prayers and spiritual closeness. For some of you, this visit to Rome will bring to mind your time spent here preparing for ordination to the priesthood. Continue reading Pope meets Kenyan Bishops →

Food Security

World Bank-Funded Projects Fueling Land Grabs, Displacement of Global Poor

Joseph Kilimo Chebet, a father of five, standing next to the burned remains of his homestead in Kenya, destroyed only hours prior by Kenya Forest Service officers. (Photo: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)
Joseph Kilimo Chebet, a father of five, standing next to the burned remains of his homestead in Kenya, destroyed only hours prior by Kenya Forest Service officers. (Photo: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists)

Common Dreams

Despite mission of ending poverty, new report shows destructive legacy of World Bank projects across the planet

The World Bank regularly broke its own promises to protect Indigenous rights around the globe by funding projects that displaced or threatened the livelihood of millions of the most vulnerable people on the planet, a new investigation has found.

Evicted and Abandoned, a joint report published Thursday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and several other outlets, found that a slew of World Bank-funded projects—including dams and power plants—have pushed 3.4 million people out of their homes or off their lands around the world since 2004. Continue reading World Bank-Funded Projects Fueling Land Grabs, Displacement of Global Poor →

Migration

‘Profiting From Misery’: Private Prison Corporations Driving Harsh Immigration Policies’

Companies spent millions in lobbying on immigration issues that led to a spike in incarceration levels and, in turn, boosted corporate profits

Common Dreams

A guard at the Northwest Detention Center, which is operated by private prison corporation GEO Group, on contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Photo: Alex Stonehill)
A guard at the Northwest Detention Center, which is operated by private prison corporation GEO Group, on contract from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Photo: Alex Stonehill)

Private prison companies are spending millions of dollars to lobby the U.S. government for harsher immigration laws that, in turn, spike corporate profits by driving up incarceration levels, a new report from the national social justice organization Grassroots Leadership reveals.

Entitled Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota, the report’s release on Wednesday coincided with a renewed hunger strike at a privately-run immigrant detention center in southern Texas, where asylum-seeking mothers incarcerated with their children report inhumane conditions, including sexual assaults by prison guards and staff. Continue reading ‘Profiting From Misery’: Private Prison Corporations Driving Harsh Immigration Policies’ →

Peace

Paschal Message of Three Syrian Patriarchs

paschal

Independent Catholic News

In a powerful Easter Message from Damascus, the three Syrian Patriarchs: Patriarch Gregorios III, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and Patriarch John X call for an end to the violence in the Middle East, especially Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine. They appeal for greater support for Christians struggling to survive in the birthplace of Christianity and urge world governments and international organizations to assist in the search for kidnapped church leaders.

Abound Robert-Philip (Gibbons) Melkite Greek Catholic Chaplain Writes: “The Melkite Greek Catholic Community in the United Kingdom sends Pachal greetings to our Sister Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and shares with them this pastoral letter of our Patriarchs to share with the whole Church of Christ.”

Christ is Risen! Al-Masih Qam! Christos Anesti! Continue reading Paschal Message of Three Syrian Patriarchs →

Kenya

Kenya Orders Somali Refugee Camp Sheltering Thousands to Move

By Lisa Vives

NEW YORK, Apr 14 2015 (IPS) – The United Nations, which is sheltering over 600,000 refugees from war-torn Somalia, has been ordered by Kenyan authorities to relocate the camp in three months.

“We have asked the UNHCR (the U.N. Refugee Agency) to relocate the refugees in three months, failure to which we shall relocate them ourselves,” said Kenya’s deputy president William Ruto in a statement Saturday.

“The way America changed after 9/11 is the way Kenya will change after Garissa,” he said, referring to the university that was attacked by Somali militants on Apr. 2. Continue reading Kenya Orders Somali Refugee Camp Sheltering Thousands to Move →