EPPN: Act today to support refugees in your community

Raise your voice in support of refugees and vulnerable immigrant children

Posted Jun 5, 2014

[Episcopal Public Policy Network] More than 6.5 million people have been displaced within Syria, and more than 2.7 million have crossed international borders as refugees. Of that refugee population, more than 1.4 million are children.

Monday, June 2, President Obama called the unprecedented arrival of tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children, fleeing violence and poverty at home, an “urgent humanitarian crisis.”

The conflict in Sudan and South Sudan has killed thousands and forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes to escape the violence, making many of these survivors of the country’s civil war refugees twice over.

Refugees and displaced people across the world need your prayers and your voice. Each new conflict and crisis brings its own unique challenges and opportunities to offer protection and hope. Having endured incredible hardship and unimaginable horrors in their home countries, refugees often spend years exiled in host countries once they flee, awaiting the opportunity to rebuild their lives. Once they are resettled, refugees become engaged and productive community members, contributing economically, socially, and spiritually to our communities.

The Episcopal Church, through Episcopal Migration Ministries, is a leader in this work of welcome, as one of the 9 “voluntary agencies” that partners with the federal government to welcome refugees to their new communities and walk with them as they begin their new lives in safety and peace. Working with refugees in this ministry, members of our Church have witnessed firsthand the suffering of refugees around the world, as well as the positive impact that resettled refugees play when welcomed into our communities here in the United States.

This National Refugee Advocacy Week, stand in solidarity with refugees and ask the United States to renew its commitment to the protection of refugees and vulnerable populations.

Go HERE to ask your Representative and Senators to support refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, victims of torture, Cuban-Haitian entrants, Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders, and unaccompanied immigrant children by supporting the refugee resettlement program, in both funding and legislation.


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