Vatican diplomat on migration: ‘Irregular status should not automatically be equated with criminality’

March 14, 2025

Citing an international treaty on refugees (full text), a leading Vatican diplomat stated on March 12 that “whilst it is both a legitimate right and a duty to defend oneself and ensure the safety of the community from those who have committed violent or serious crimes, irregular status should not automatically be equated with criminality.”

“People that are outside the country of their nationality and are unable or are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, and who—for different reasons—have a well-founded fear of being persecuted, have the right to seek and enjoy asylum,” said Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The prelate noted that under the treaty—the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)—“there is an absolute prohibition on forced return to a country where there is the risk of facing severe human rights violations or even death.”

Archbishop Balestrero made his statement at a meeting of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as a standing committee of the agency considered the status of refugees in the Americas. The prelate, citing Pope Francis, said that “we find ourselves once again ‘at a crossroads of civilization’ with widespread violence, conflict and persecution across the globe, forcibly displacing an estimated 139 million people this year. Moreover, the sense of fraternity and common humanity that are also important to keep the international refugee system alive is increasingly challenged.”

He concluded:

The Holy See emphasizes the crucial role played by those States that have granted refugees and asylum seekers access to socio-economic inclusion. Furthermore, the Holy See commends the efforts of the countries which rely on the invaluable collaboration of faith-based organizations ... The solution is to transform fear into hope, and anxiety into confidence. For its part, the Catholic Church, together with its many institutions in the Americas and across the world, will continue to welcome, protect, promote and integrate people on the move without discrimination.

The United States, India, Indonesia, and Japan are among the nations that are not parties to the 1951 convention. Later, the United States, in a 98-0 Senate vote, ratified a 1967 protocol in which parties agreed to “undertake to apply” most of the convention’s provisions (full text).

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• Posted by: feedback - Today 5:27 AM ET USA

  In the Vatican itself an 'irregular status' is automatically equated with criminality. Does the diplomat Archbishop even know that the Vatican just increases penalties for illegal entry, with prison sentences up to four years? Rules for thee but not for me.