Over the past few weeks, countries which have the power to influence international narratives, policies and practices around issues relating to mobile people have robustly engaged in activities that have emphasised the politics of exclusion. We should be under no illusion that these trends will have an adverse influence on the security and wellbeing of this community. They will intensify the vulnerability that these communities already labour under, and will in many cases keep them captive to violence, poverty and the negative consequences of natural catastrophes. They will also deeply influence the negative approach of other countries in attempts to exclude mobile people from support and stability.

Submitted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office