Juliana Omale-Atemi of the African Women and Child Feature Service (AWC) drew the conference's attention to a steadily growing population of women migrant workers, who risk "abuse and exploitation, simply because they are women." She added that some girls are abducted and trafficked for use in the hospitality, entertainment and sex industry.
"There is scope for the church to influence how international migration is managed, and to champion the human rights issues faced by migrant women as well as their families and communities in their countries of origin," she argued.
Migration has been affecting the face of the church in both countries of migration and origin, with migrants facing difficulties in balancing psychological and spiritual needs.
"Many migrants have stopped going to church, have lost their faith and values. Those who attempt to go to the mainline churches that relate to their home churches feel that they are not welcome," Rev. Gertrude Kapuma, a vice president of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) said. Such frustration has resulted in the formation of many small churches with African liturgy to accommodate the needs of migrant Africans, she reported.
At the conference, GEM members decided to visit each others' regions to raise awareness on the impact of migration among member churches, providing information on the legal, social and psychological situations of migrants in host countries, and the relationships between churches in home and host countries.
Several conference participants stated that the church must understand the problem of migration, advocate against racism, and educate their people on the challenges they may meet in countries of migration. They also want churches to speak out more forcefully on the human rights of migrants, and monitor their governments' observance of the conventions they have ratified.
From now through 2008, reports the coordinator of the WCC's Migration and Social Justice project Sydia Nduna, the GEM is planning to monitor forced removals from Europe, while pushing for closer cooperation on migration policies between the African and European Unions.
"We are calling for educational processes within Africa first, since that's where we are," Rev. Prof. Maake Masango of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa declared. "To the European churches we are saying that if our migrant workers are shipped in a brutal way, are called illegal, are captured and treated in the most inhumane way, then the churches in Europe must address the people of their countries on this subject."
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Fredrick Nzwili is a freelance journalist from Kenya. He is currently a correspondent for Ecumenical News International (ENI) based in the country's capital, Nairobi.
