AMERICA/BOLIVIA-"Put the shoes of a refugee on and take the first step to understand their situation"

La Paz (Agenzia Fides) - "Put the shoes of a refugee on and take the first step to understand their situation" is the theme of the campaign launched in Latin America by the Ministry of Human Mobility (for Migrants), which belongs to ' Area of Human Promotion of the Episcopal Conference of Bolivia, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on the occasion of World Refugee Day and the anniversary of the 60 years since the Convention in 1951. According to the note sent to Fides by the Pastoral of Human Mobility, this invitation to "be in the shoes of a refugee" is also an invitation to challenge intolerance and contempt for people who, to save their lives, have lost everything except "the determination to start again".
In the note it reads that in Bolivia, there are 700 people with refugee status, between adults and children from different countries, including Peru, Colombia, Iraq, Cameroon, Cuba and others. Most of them live in La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. They are vulnerable because many of them are persecuted by the country of origin, and also because they live the uncertainty of a new life situation in the country of asylum. "Despite these limitations, the refugees make the necessary efforts to integrate and work on the development of the society that opens its arms and allows them to form their new home". The note continues: "the state of Bolivia, in reference to the 1951 Convention for the Status of Refugees and its commitment to implement actions to safeguard and protect refugees in Bolivia, has implemented the Supreme Decree 28329 that creates the National Commission for Refugees and establishes procedures for determining refugee status in Bolivia". The new realities in the current context of refugees and sectors of civil society stakeholders, have begun drafting a law that is concordant with the new State Constitution, international treaties and agreements, and especially meets the needs of people who have asked international protection in Bolivia. The note concludes with an appeal to try to understand the situation of refugees. (EC) (Agenzia Fides 21/06/2011)