GPH, MILF Panels Join Int’l ‘Appeal for Peace’ for Syrian Refugee Crisis

Tirana, Albania – The Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels joined thousands of religious leaders, public intellectuals and peace advocates in issuing an ‘Appeal for Peace’ that called for an end to wars and a decisive response to the global refugee crisis.

The appeal was issuedduring the closing ceremonies of ‘Peace is Always Possible – Religions and Cultures in Dialogue,” a three-day international meeting organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio in cooperation with the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania and the Albanian Episcopal Conference.‎

“Seventy years after the nuclear massacre and the end of World War II, humanity seems to have forgotten that war is an adventure with no turning back,” the ‘Appeal for Peace,’ a statement issued by the participants of the meeting, lamented.

The appeal was read by GPH peace panel chair Prof. Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. The government negotiator was invited to the meeting along with MILF peace panel member Prof. Abhoud Syed Lingga to share insights on the Bangsamoro peace process in a panel discussing the deteriorating situation in Syria and the Boko Haram in Nigeria, with the Bangsamoro peace process providing examples and hope as to how peace can be made possible.

The Syrian refugees crisis has sparked international concern, with fleeing refugees numbering around four million already, a spike from 100,000 refugees in 2012 and 800,000 in 2013. The United Nations predicts there will be 4.27 million Syrian displaced persons by the end of this year, making this the worst exodus since the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago.

“Indeed, wars seem to have become normal and many people are attracted by the dreadful appeal of violence,” the Appeal for Peace decried.

The appeal lamented that “tens of millions of refugees are crowding over Asia, on the borders of Europe, and in other areas of the world,” and called on the global community “to open up the doors of our hearts, our countries, because there are no walls or barbed wires that can stop a person’s need to live and guarantee a future to his or her children.”

“To religions we say: let us help the world find a human response to war, to the world migrations, to the environmental crisis, to the numerous forms of poverty and to the quest for meaning of many people,” it continued.

Ferrer and Lingga were joined in the panel discussion by Mario Giro, Undersecretary of State to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy; Mauro Garofalo of the Community of Sant’Egidio; Vidya Jain, Director of the Centre for Gandhian Studies of India; Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, a Catholic Archbishop from Nigeria; Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos from the Institute of Geopolitics in France; and Din Syamsuddin Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council Center.

Pope affirms peace is a personal undertaking

The international meeting opened with a message from Pope Francis, who said that “it is necessary to reaffirm” that “peace is always possible.”

“We must never be resigned to war! And we must not be indifferent in front of people who suffer from war and violence,” the Pope added.

The Pontiff said that “to state that peace is always possible is not naivety,” and emphasized that “we are required be involved, personally and through our communities, in the great work of peace.”

Earlier this year, in his five-day state and pastoral visit to the Philippines, Pope Francis also took note of the Bangsamoro peace process and commended efforts in peace-making during his first public statement given in Malacañang last January 16.

“In a particular way, I express my trust that the progress made in bringing peace to the south of the country will result in just solutions in accord with the nation’s founding principles and respectful of the inalienable rights of all, including the indigenous peoples and religious minorities,” the pontiff said.

Source: www.opapp.gov.ph