New forms of poverty keep emerging on our horizon. We cannot ignore a new category of the poor, the most vulnerable: refugees.
The situation of those fleeing war zones, those who leave their homes and countries not in search of a better life but simply to survive, could hardly be more dire. In economically strained societies, the only answer to their pleas for help seems to be financial: we cannot afford it.
So we retreat into a defensive posture—or worse, an offensive one—toward these people who place their hopes of survival in nearby Europe. Whatever our political stance on this phenomenon, whatever our tolerance or empathy for them: it is a crisis we cannot simply ignore. We must face it squarely and ask ourselves as citizens: what would be the right thing to do?
And as Christians: what can I do? There are no easy answers. But we can understand the situation better. And we must ask: where are people with disabilities in all this? Can they flee with their families? How do they manage amid such overwhelming hardship?
We put these questions to Anna Marchei, coordinator for the Community of Sant'Egidio's humanitarian corridors program.