Undocumented Children of the World

Conference on undocumented children

a Bahá'í point of view

Recently I attended an Inter-Faith conference and panel discussion on undocumented children organized by Assumption University’s John Paul II Center for Catholic Social Thought at the University’s JOHN XXIII Conference Center, Suvarnabhumi campus in Bangkok, Thailand.

This was organized in collaboration with the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace, Vatican and Rev. Bro. Dr. Amnuay, Director of John Paul II Center, invited members of Catholic, Jain, Islam, Judaism and Bahá'í Faith to represent and discuss what the relious writings say on undocument children. I enjoyed the presentations given by representatives all all Faith. My dear friend, Mr. Jayabalan presented a paper on Bahá'í Faith.

First of all I applaud the efforts of Rev. Br. Dr. Amnuay’s efforts and the leadership of Rev. Bro. Dr. Bancha, President of Assumption University in organizing the forum for various religions to unite and discuss the problem of undocumented children, a subject which is dear to our heart, a topic which is one of humanities, on-going shame - a crime against inncocent undocumented children.

Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, says that religion must be conducive to love and unity. If it proves to be the source of hatred and enmity, its absence is preferable; for the will and law of God is love, and love is the bond between human hearts. Religion is the light of the world. If it is made the cause of darkness through human misunderstanding and ignorance, it would be better to do without it.

The sufferings of undocumented children are of great concern to all of us. They are denied the basic rights.

According to UNICEF:

More than 10 million children die each year although most of those deaths could be prevented;

100 million children are still out of school, 60 per cent of them girls;

150 million children suffer from malnutrition; and HIV/AIDS is spreading at an alarming speed.

An undocumented children in southern part of India

Article 244 of the Compendium states: “The rights of children must be legally protected within juridical systems.” And in Article 245 we read: “The situation of a vast number of the world’s children is far from being satisfactory, due to the lack of favorable conditions for their integral development despite the existence of a specific international juridical instrument for protecting their rights, an instrument that is binding on practically all members of the international community.”

A child begging on the streets of Bangladesh

So how shall humanity get away with this crime? How can we allow this festering crime to continue? Crime against undocumented children is one of the humanity's greatest shames.

But, there are many others: our treatment of the aged from whose loins each and every one of us came into this world - our treatment of the poor and women - our prejudice of color, religion, race and flag

Street children in garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Not only there are millions of undocumented children all over the world, but children are forced to become child soldiers, laborers an in many cases trafficked across international borders to force into sex trade. They face all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.

To protect these children, we have to change. Our society has to change. An organic change in the structure of present-day society needs to take place, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.

This will require profound changes at the level of the individual, the community, and the nations of the world. Baha’u’llah, the prophet Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, about more than century and a half ago, said, to make this change. “Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self.”

Just to give you a brief background of the Bahá'í Faith, throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society.

These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.

Each prophet acknowledged the ones before and foretold of another to follow.They all subscribed to the great truth of Progressive religion. There is in fact only one religion and all the prophets have stage after stage revealed successive chapters of it.

Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion.

Bahá'u'lláh said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity.

The Oneness of Humanity

The Oneness of Religion

The Equality of Women and Men

Elimination of Prejudice

Elimination of Extremes of Wealth and Poverty

The Independent Investigation of Truth

Universal Education

The Harmony of Science and Religion

A World Commonwealth of Nations

A Universal Auxiliary Language

Bahá’u’lláh warned that humanity would face an increasing number of severe and unprecedented calamities until it recognized and fully embraced its underlying unity.

Shrine of the Bab, Haifa, Israel

Let’s think about this for a moment...we can send man to the moon, split the atom, conquer the space, find cure to incurable disesases, but we cannot unite the hearts of human beings. We cannot find an organic force that can unite a jew with a Plaestinian, a Muslim with a Hindhu or a with a Christian with a Jew.

Today, more than six million Bahá'í s who come from nearly every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic background are working hard to find a unifying vision to build a world fit for children.

Baha’i writings stress the importance of the welfare and education of children including the poor and undocumented.

As part of the Bahá'í Socio Economic Development, there are thousands of children classes are conducted for poor, needy, undocumented and migrant children to provide them education.

Referring children, Baha’u’llah said, “There are many things which will, if neglected, be wasted, and come to nothing. How often in this world do we see a child who has lost his parents and who, unless attention is devoted to his education and training, can produce no fruit. And better off dead than alive is he who produceth no fruit.”

From their earliest moments, Bahá'í writings, make it cear, that we have a sared duty to love them, protect them, and train them so that they may grow and develop and become “stars of the heaven of understanding,” “lions roarings in the forests of knowledge and wisdom,” “whales swimming in the oceans of life.”

All these are like ulcers breaking open the skin of the human body. But as we know ulcers are themselves only symptoms of the diseased blood and the disease of the blood is caused by the sickness of the hearts. The heart of humanity is sick.

How and who can find the cure. We know that the cure is not with any politician or clergy, since political in-fighting and religious wars are the bone of our times. This is the time for all of us to think, believe and practice that the earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,

Each prophets of the past religions, during His time for his region and people successfully cleansed the hearts and united them to establish mighty cultures and civilizations.

There is no finality to knowledge or religion. If one is interested in discovering the key to human unity in our time then one would do well to investigate the claim of Baha'u’llah the Prophet founder of the Bahá'í Faith, which within a hundred and fifty years of its inception 1863 has already became the second most wide-spread religion of our planet and cultures across racial, religious, or color barriers, demonstrate a cross section of the human race truly united in conscience and purpose.

Hence the problem of undocumented children from the perspective of Bahá'í Faith, shameful as it is, will not be solved in isolation but as an integral part of restoring the whole human condition to its rightful place as a family

Finally, I would like to end my brief summary with a beautiful prayer for the children from the Bahá'í Faith,

“God! Educate these children. These children are the plants of Thine orchard, the flowers of Thy meadow, the roses of Thy garden. Let Thy rain fall upon them; let the Sun of Reality shine upon them with Thy love. Let Thy breeze refresh them in order that they may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty. Thou art the Giver. Thou art the Compassionate.”