Population levels at US federally contracted shelters for migrant children have quietly shot up more than five-fold since last summer, according to data obtained by The New York Times.

So far this month 12,800 children were being detained. There were 2,400 such children in custody in May 2017. Read more

A recent Australian court decision stated the lawfulness of the offshore detention regime on Nauru.

This means 267 asylum seekers on mainland Australia could be returned there.

But 10 Anglican and Uniting churches around the country have offered sanctuary to the asylum seekers who are at risk of being returned.

The concept of church sanctuary has no basis in Australian law.

But immigration minister Peter Dutton said the government would not be "dragging people out of churches".

He said that the people's cases would be considered individually on medical advice.

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The group were held at sea for a month after their boat, which set sail from Pondicherry in India, was intercepted in June.

They were moved to Australia's mainland, to the remote Curtin Detention Centre, to meet Indian officials, but refused to speak with them.

India had promised to take back its nationals.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the group would either be resettled in Nauru or deported to Sri Lanka, where they are thought to come from.

Last month, the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce blasted the nation's border security policy over its treatment of minors.

The policy was called "state-sanctioned child abuse" in a report by the religious leaders.

The task force called for a royal commission into the plight of child migrants who suffer "terrible" abuse before being "dumped" offshore.

It also called on Mr Morrison to renounce his legal position of guardian of all unaccompanied minors.

"The minister forsakes his guardianship duties when he sends unaccompanied children to the detention camp in Nauru," the report said.

Australia changed its policy on unauthorised boats in December to crack down on people-smuggling.

Under the new policy, all asylum-seekers arriving by boat are sent to Nauru or Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement, even if they are found to be refugees.

The Australian government says its aim is to save lives by preventing people getting on dangerous boats.

The most recent arrivals are the first to test the new policy.

In 2012, legislation was passed to allow offshore processing of asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The legislation stripped away legal safeguards for asylum seekers subject to offshore processing.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended the latest transfer, saying he was confident it was safe to send people to Nauru.

Sources

• BBC
• Al-Jazeera
• Refugee Council of Australia
• Image: Sydney Morning Herald

The strongly worded document, entitled Welcoming Christ in Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, was released jointly by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

It says Catholic laity have an obligation to root out traces of xenophobia in their hearts and recognise refugees as their brothers and sisters — children of God whose dignity must be protected.

Since the mid-1980s, the document says, the debate surrounding refugees and other asylum seekers has become "a forum for political and administrative election purposes, which fed hostile and aggressive attitudes among the electorate".

At a news conference, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, said many governments have adopted policies that subject refugees to "confined detention, interment in refugee camps, and having their freedom to travel and their right to work restricted".

In effect, he said, countries are focused more on deterring newcomers from reaching their shores than they are on offering protection and a welcome to suffering people fleeing situations that threatened their lives and dignity.

From a Catholic point of view, he said, "every policy, initiative or intervention in this area must be inspired by the principle of the centrality and dignity of the human person".

Data compiled by Cardinal Veglio's office indicates that in 2012 there were some 16 million officially recognised refugees in the world and 28.8 million internally displaced persons.

In addition, an estimated 21 million people have been trafficked, including 4.5 million for sexual exploitation and 14.2 million for what amounts to slave labour.

The document treats the whole field of migration as a field for Catholic missionary activity.

In addition to supporting Catholic groups, particularly women's religious orders that are rescuing victims and helping them recover, the document says lay Catholics need to look at how their investing or buying habits may actually promote trafficking for low-cost labour, including in the fields of manufacturing, textiles and agriculture.

Sources:

Vatican Information Service

Catholic News Service

Image: UCANews