Pray with the Pope: Through the Eyes of a Child

Intention: Let us pray for migrants, refugees and those affected by war, that their right to an education, which is necessary to build a better world, might always be respected.

The pope’s intention for January is an opportunity to look at what it is like to be a refugee or migrant from the point of view of the child, through the child’s eyes.

Not only are many children today experiencing the trauma of being forced to leave home for a foreign land, but significant numbers are also born into refugee and migrant communities. One statistic estimates that between 2018 and 2023, around two million children worldwide were born into these communities.

What does such a child long for? Obviously, not to be excluded from school. To go to school, to don a school uniform, to sit in class — all these things constitute a sign of normality. It is difficult to imagine the distress of a child who sees other children trooping off to school while he or she sits at home. How does a parent explain such exclusion to a child?

International standards implicitly acknowledge that it is the clear desire of the United Nations that refugee and migrant children should not suffer discrimination and should be afforded the same level of educational opportunity as children who are citizens. Integration is the ideal. Not only is this an issue of justice but clearly it is also deeply desirable in itself.

Yield productive adults

And even from a selfish point of view, receiving countries do well to integrate refugee and migrant children into the schooling system, for this yields responsible and productive members of society, whereas exclusion risks producing exactly the opposite.

Unfortunately, the desires and aspirations of refugee and migrant children and their parents are not always met. Even where there is a relatively generous policy — such as in South Africa, where refugees are protected by various laws and people are not detained in camps — there are outbreaks of xenophobia and politicians are tempted to be anti-immigrant to garner votes.

Things are looking bleaker everywhere for this most vulnerable group. In times of economic hardship, popular sentiment is easily swayed against the stranger in our midst.

We must salute and support all those who don’t just wait for governments to deliver these services but who step in and work directly for the upliftment of these little ones. Catholic schools have done some excellent work here. Bodies dedicated to refugees and migrants, such as the Scalabrinian Fathers and Sisters (scalabrini.org.za) and the Jesuit Refugee Service (jrs.net/en/country/south-africa), run outstanding educational projects. Some of these projects display remarkable imagination, such as the use of the Internet to teach across borders.

The vision is to produce the citizens of the future. Immigrants, including refugees and migrants, have always made great contributions to the societies where they have been welcomed, and with education they can and will do so again.