Archbishop meets asylum seekers at Peace Lab

Archbishop Paul Cremona yesterday visited the Peace Lab, in Hal Far, where he met asylum seekers at the residential part of the complex.

He was welcomed and shown round by Peace Lab director Fr Dionysius Mintoff and other council members.

In a short welcome address, a young Ethiopian recalled how the family from Nazareth became migrants soon after the birth of Jesus and, as refugees, they fled their homeland to escape Herod's persecution. Solomin Yasmin said that in the drama of that Nazareth family, one catches a glimpse of the painful conditions migrants and, especially, refugees, exiles, displaced persons and the persecuted go through.

One of the residents at the complex, Ethiopian Joseph Harani, 23, on behalf of residents from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Ghana and Niger, presented to Mgr Cremona a water colour painting he drew showing, from an African's point of view, the mission and preaching of the Archbishop, including his motto Pave The Way For The Lord.