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Augustinian Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

Facing the Influx of Young Immigrants

How Malta’s Millennium Chapel Ministers to Newly Arrived Youths

With the influx of immigrants and the worldwide problem of refugees, the scourge of racism in human nature has surfaced in the Catholic population of the small European island of Malta as it has certainly done in other parts of the world. It is not clear whether this is caused by endemic traits in the local population or as a result of the improper handling of the problem.

One thing is certain, that both the Government and the Church in Malta were not prepared to face this problem. The Church has done something very limited in relation to the problem and was certainly very late in coming up with its response. It is now rather late to control the damage and heal the wounds inflicted on the thousands of people who accidentally landed and still land occasionally in Malta in the search of a better future in Europe.

A similar incident dramatically described by Luke in Chapters 27 and 28 of the Acts of the Apostles happened to Paul on his way to Rome. However on that occasion Paul described his shipwrecking on the island of Malta as a divine providence and spoke highly of the “Natives who showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all.” (Acts 28: 2) Would Paul have found the same reception to day?

The Millennium Chapel, situated in the most prominent of tourist places in Malta, also attracts refugees and immigrants and has come to offer a small contribution to these innocent and poor people, most of them in their youth.

Most of these young people come from poor East African countries like Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan etc. searching for a decent way of living which they have not found in their countries. Language is one of the first problems they have to face to survive.

Malta is very popular with young European students as a location to study and learn the English language. For this purpose many language schools have been opened and thousands of young people from all Europe come to Malta to study English.

With the help of Elanguest, one of best language schools in Malta, the Millennium Chapel started a course for these young refugees and immigrants providing professional help to learn the English language. Given that their intention has never been to reside in Malta, command of the English language is essential for them to find job opportunities in larger countries. To facilitate their participation in the course organized, transport and food is provided to the immigrants attending.

This is a practical way of pastoral ministry that the Church can and should provide wherever these poor immigrants arrive. Education is one of the most important tools in our hands to eradicate poverty in the world. The Augustinian Community of the Millennium Chapel is providing this service and hopefully is being instrumental in eradicating poverty in the World and helping some young people find dignity in their lives.

-- Rev. Hilary Tagliaferro, O.S.A.
Augustinian Province of Malta
Augustinian Non-Governmental Organization at the United Nations

More from the Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

       » Augustinians Launch Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign
             Nature, extent, causes and consequences of the trafficking of people

       » Human Trafficking and Illegal Trafficking of People
             How the two differ, along with some statistics

       » Restavecs: Duplicity in the Trafficking of Children
             Illegal trafficking of children in Haiti 2010

       » No One’s Daughters - The Nameless Girls
             Trafficking of orphans in Europe (I)

       » Teens Working the Streets
             Trafficking of orphans in Europe (II)

       » World Cup Soccer Championship and Exploitation
             The hidden reality behind a major sports event

Additional Resources

       » U.N.O.D.C. on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling (Opens new window)
             Resources from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

       » Blue Heart Campaign (Opens new window)
             An awareness raising initiative to fight human trafficking and its impact

       » Empowerment Through Knowledge (Opens new window)
             A Web resource for combatting human trafficking

       » Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             Facts and resources for emergency health care providers

       » International Organization for Migration (Opens new window)
             Promoting international cooperation to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration

       » Federal Bureal of Investigation: Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             Human Trafficking in the U. S. A. and how the F. B. I. works to stop it

       » Trafficking in Persons Report 2009: U.S. Department of State (Opens new window)
             Most comprehensive worldwide report on efforts of governments to combat trafficking

       » U.S.C.C.B. Response to Human Trafficking (Opens new window)
             How the Catholic Church combats this modern-day form of slavery

This page offers one of a series of bulletins from the international Augustinian Secretariate for Justice and Peace. It explains some aspects of human trafficking, a pervasive violation of Catholic Christiam morality that has received little attention from news media in the United States.

Human trafficking is sin against human dignity and human life. Christians today are called to be aware of the suffering and harm that human trafficking causes, and to act in support policies and initiatives that will eliminate or reduce this evil. (See Matthew 25: 31-46) The Augustinian Secretariate, committed to assisting Augustinian friars and others in acquiring a greater awareness of the nature, extent, causes and consequences of the trafficking of people, has started a Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign for the years 2009 - 2011.