Migration

Justice and care for migrant women

Justice and care for migrant women

More women than ever before are migrating alone in search of a better life, but Caritas Internationalis says systems aren’t in place to prevent them from being exploited or abused. In a report published today, Caritas says governments and social services dealing with migration need to address migrant women’s needs. In its report The female face ...

Continue Reading...

Drugged, kidnapped and enslaved in brothel: how one Nepalese woman fought back

Drugged, kidnapped and enslaved in brothel: how one Nepalese woman fought back

By Laura Sheahen “In the brothel, there were no windows. The only light was from the lightbulb—that was the sun and the moon for us.” Charimaya Tamang grew up in the hill country of Nepal, working on her family’s farm. She was used to the outdoors and sunshine and freedom. But after waking from a ...

Continue Reading...

Migrants risk all to cross from Mexico to the US

Migrants risk all to cross from Mexico to the US

Human smuggling is a boom business according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, with the profits in the billions (over $32 billion in 2005). Caritas Internationalis says that while every country has the right to regulate immigration, restrictive measures are simply encouraging people to resort to more dangerous and expensive channels of migration.

Continue Reading...

Female face of migration

Female face of migration

When impoverished women decide to leave their countries to work abroad, they often are deceived or abused. Smugglers and human traffickers may exploit them, forcing them to work as unpaid prostitutes or beggars. Women who become domestic workers are sometimes beaten, overworked, or not paid. Many women leave behind their own families to care for ...

Continue Reading...

Aiding Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Aiding Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Caritas Lebanon is aiding Syrian refugee families who have arrived in Lebanon throughout the past few months. A team from the Caritas Lebanon organised a two-day fact finding mission to the north-east of Lebanon in February. The team included staff from the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre and Caritas Baalbeck. Across the border with Syria in ...

Continue Reading...

‘They’ve sold you’: sex trafficking in Nepal

‘They’ve sold you’: sex trafficking in Nepal

To mark the launch of a new Caritas report on the female face of migration, communications officer Laura Sheahen and photographer Katie Orlinsky travelled to Nepal to document the trafficking of young girls and women. Follow their journey. By Laura Sheahen  “We girls were hidden under floorboards during police raids. There were ten girls there ...

Continue Reading...

A future for Congo’s women

A future for Congo’s women

“Karibu, welcome,” said Adèle. She and a dozen other women are hard at work in a field beside the Goma to Rutshuru Road in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Adèle is an agronomist and also heads three associations supported by a Caritas project to rehabilitate women war victims. “We’ve planted peanut seeds and ...

Continue Reading...

Conflict in Mali adds to West Africa’s woes

Conflict in Mali adds to West Africa’s woes

“The sound of gunfire woke us up,” said Mr Mahmouda, who fled his village in Mali after it came under attack from rebels. “Although we were not directly threatened, we were scared. We took all we could carry and fled in the direction of Niger,” he told Caritas Niger. Some 120,000 people have been forced ...

Continue Reading...