International Catholic Migration Commission

International Catholic Migration Commission

The "International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC)" is an international organization that serves and protects the needs of uprooted people, refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants, with operations in 30 countries of the world, including Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey.

ICMC advocates for durable solutions and rights-based policies directly and through a worldwide network of 172 (as of 2006) member organizations.

ICMC's expertise and core programming consists of refugee resettlement, return and reintegration, local integration, work with extremely vulnerable individuals, counter-trafficking and rescue, NGO capacity-building, technical cooperation and government institution-building, emergency response and advocacy [ [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/pom2001_85_87/rc_pc_migrants_pom86_zamagni.htm People on the Move, N° 86 - The Migratory question today and the role of ICMC ] ] .

How ICMC began

The founding of ICMC followed the end of the Second World War and the great displacement of peoples, particularly in Europe, caused by that international conflict. By 1949, in eastern Europe thousands more were forced to flee their homes.

The Catholic Church worked among these displaced people in various ways and places but, by 1951, it was clear to a group of lay Catholic people and the Holy See in Rome that a more systematic effort was needed on the part of Catholic organizations to respond to the needs of forced migrants.

In 1951, German, Italian, and American laity and clergy, as well as Secretary of State, Archbishop Montini (the future Pope Paul VI), and Cardinal Joseph Frings of Germany, initiated the creation of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC). The following year, Pope Pius XII, in his papal letter (known as an Apostolic Constitution), Exsul Familia [ [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/p12exsul.htm Exsul Familia Nazarethana ] ] , focused the attention of Catholics on the needs of migrants and refugees, and formally introduced ICMC to the world. The first president of ICMC was Mr James Norris from the United States of America. He served as president for 23 years and retired in 1976.

In its early years, the work of ICMC focused on the administration of migrant travel loan funds. This was, by far, the most pressing need at the time.

How ICMC developed

By the early 1970s, the migration phenomenon had become more complex and international. People were forced to migrate from an increasing number of countries because of war and poverty.

The end of the war in Vietnam, the attempted genocide in Cambodia and violent events elsewhere caused a forced migration that had not been witnessed for a generation. ICMC continued to assist European refugees resettle in new countries. It also began resettlement work with the new refugee groups from South and Southeast Asia [Philippine Refugee Processing Center] , the Near East, Africa and Latin America.

In recent years, ICMC has expanded its work and is providing rehabilitative services for victims of torture [ International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims] . Preventive and rehabilitative work for trafficked victims and survivors of gender based violence is a major area of ICMC's current work and expertise. Helping with the new legislation on counter trafficking in Indonesia has been a very successful ICMC endeavour. Another area of expertise ICMC has is in emergency mental health and psychosocial services; ICMC and has been very much involved as a Task Force Member to formulate guidelines on mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies [ Relief Web] .

On Friday July 11th 2008, ICMC has been officially granted new public juridical status by the Holy See, in better accordance with its present identity and activities. This new juridical personality underlines the importance of the strengthened relationship between the Secretariat of State of the Vatican, the Episcopal Conferences and ICMC in their shared concern for the well-being of migrants.

External links

* [http://www.icmc.net International Catholic Migration Commission]
* [http://onlinevolunteer.org/groups/group_home.php?source=self&gp_id=843 UNV Online Volunteering]
* [http://130.227.3.66/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-6TFJHK?Open International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims]
* [http://130.227.3.66/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-74QG74 IRCT]
* [http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/83/6/infocus0605/en/index.html World Health Organization]
* [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EDIS-772KAU?OpenDocument Relief Web]

Notes


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims members — Centres/Programmes accredited with the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims [ [http://130.227.3.66/usr/irct/home.nsf/BrowseDirectory?OpenView RestrictToCategory=Accreditation%20status%3ECentres/Programmes%20accredited%20with%20… …   Wikipedia

  • Directory of International Associations of the Faithful — The Directory of International Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, lists the international associations of the faithful in the Catholic Church that have been granted official recognition.[1] It gives… …   Wikipedia

  • international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations. [1970 75] * * * Study of the relations of states with each other and with international organizations and certain subnational entities (e.g., bureaucracies and political… …   Universalium

  • International development — For other forms of development, see development (disambiguation). These key indicators of human well being have all improved since 1970. International development or global development[1] is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition …   Wikipedia

  • Exsul Familia — is the apostolic constitution written by Pope Pius XII on the topic of migration. It was released on 1 August 1952. The title of the document refers to the migrant Holy Family, forced to flee into Egypt, taken as the archetype of every refugee… …   Wikipedia

  • Reconciliation and Unity Commission — The Reconciliation and Unity Commission is a proposed government body to be set up if the Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which was introduced into the Fijian Parliament on May 4 2005, is passed. The legislation proposes to empower the …   Wikipedia

  • Eastern Catholic Churches — This article refers to Eastern churches in full communion with the Church of Rome. For other eastern churches, see Church of the East (disambiguation) Part of a series on Eastern Christianity …   Wikipedia

  • George Michael Crennan — Monsignor George Michael Crennan AO OBE (1900 – July 2001) an Australian Catholic cleric, was known for his service as Director of the Federal Catholic Immigration Office in Australia from 1949 until 1995. Crennan was born in Mount Gambier, South …   Wikipedia

  • European Council on Refugees and Exiles — Infobox NPO organization name = European Council on Refugees and Exiles organization organization motto = Working together to protect and respect refugees. [ cite web|url=http://www.ecre.org/about us |title=About Us |publisher=ECRE… …   Wikipedia

  • François Gayot — SMM (* 17. Juli 1927 in Saint Louis du Nord, Haiti; † 16. Dezember 2010 in Rom) war römisch katholischer Erzbischof von Cap Haïtien. Leben François Gayot trat der Gemeinschaft der Montfortaner bei und wurde am 7. Februar 1954 zum Priester geweiht …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”