Vatican Says Internal Migrants Should Have Same Rights as Refugees

Vatican Says Internal Migrants Should Have Same Rights as Refugees
People wearing face masks stand outside the Selam Palace, a structure occupied by migrants, in La Romanina district, on the outskirts of Rome on April 7, 2020, amid the novel coronavirus' crisis (COVID-19). Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images
|Updated:

ROME—The Vatican says internal migrants should have the same legal protections as refugees and says their children should have the right to birth certificates, education, and to be reunited with their parents if separated.

The Vatican on May 5 published a booklet of pastoral guidelines to care for internally displaced people — migrants who are forced to flee their homes because of conflict, natural disasters, or persecution but don’t cross international borders to seek asylum elsewhere.