World Refugee Day 2014
A South Sudanese girl at the Lietchor refugee camp in Gambella, western Ethiopia. Photo: Christof Krackhardt/ACT- Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe
World Service Director Hitzler Affirms LWF’s Solidarity with Families Torn Apart by Conflict
(LWI) - On the occasion of this year’s World Refugee Day, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) affirms its solidarity with families torn apart by conflict, as the number of forcibly displaced persons across the world totaled 51.2 million people by the end of 2013.
In a statement today, LWF Department for World Service (DWS) director Rev. Eberhard Hitzler underlines that “humanitarian intervention for refugees and IDPs is an integral part of the story of a communion that stands for the rights of those suffering irrespective of gender, race, faith or political belief.”
“Whether in Jordan, where we are expanding our refugee operations to cater to the increasing number of Syrians, in Chad with daily arrivals from neighboring CAR [Central African Republic], in countries neighboring South Sudan, or for millions of unsettled IDPs in Colombia and Myanmar, World Service is committed to providing life-saving assistance and building hope for a life with dignity,” Hitzler says.
Conflicts are becoming more complex, the DWS director notes. He urges governments to intervene in preventing and ending conflict, and appeals “to their generosity in granting asylum and resettlement, and in providing relocation schemes in various countries hosting displaced people.”
