Vatican City, Mar 13, 2005 / 22:00 pm
In a March 10th speech to the United Nations, Vatican representative, Msgr. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, called the refugee situation in Africa a “deep scar on the human family” and called on the International body to act quickly to “alleviate their suffering and to protect their rights."
Msgr. Nwachukwu, nunciature counsellor at the Holy See Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations at Geneva, spoke at the 32nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The four-day meeting began March 8.
His talk focused on the displaced population crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and said that, “The precarious and tragic condition of these millions of persons forcibly uprooted from their villages and their lands calls for concrete and prompt decisions to alleviate their suffering and to protect their rights."
Msgr. Nwachukwu noted the "positive signs given in the past year when voluntary and organized repatriation of refugees had started to normalize life for tens of thousands."