Migrants – TYPiNG ouT oF THe BLue

International Migrants Day • December 18

Migration today is different from the past. Before, people moved slowly, in small numbers. Today, migration is faster, larger, and more visible. Planes, borders, and social media make movement easier—but problems harder to hide.

How Migration Looks Today

People migrate mainly for three reasons:

• Work – to earn a living
• Safety – to escape war or violence
• Survival – due to climate change or poverty

Most migrants do not leave because they want to. They leave because staying is no longer possible.

Countries Most Affected

Migration affects many countries, but in different ways.

Countries people leave from:
• Conflict zones like Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine
• Economically struggling nations in parts of Africa, Latin America, and South Asia

People leave these places due to war, lack of jobs, or unstable governments.

Countries people move to:
• United States, Canada
• Germany, France, United Kingdom
• Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE
• Parts of Asia, including Japan and South Korea

These countries need workers, but often struggle to manage large numbers of newcomers.

The Main Problems

Migration today faces serious challenges:

• Unsafe migration routes
• Human trafficking and exploitation
• Discrimination and racism
• Lack of legal protection
• Overcrowded cities and services

Migrants often do essential jobs, yet remain invisible or underprotected.

How Migration Can Be Managed Better

Migration cannot be stopped—but it can be handled better.

1. Legal and Safe Pathways
Governments should provide clear, legal ways for people to work and move safely.

2. Fair Treatment at Work
Migrants must receive fair pay, safe conditions, and basic rights.

3. Shared Responsibility
No single country should carry the burden alone. Cooperation matters.

4. Fixing Root Causes
Long-term solutions mean reducing war, poverty, and climate damage in home countries.

5. Seeing Migrants as People
Not numbers. Not problems. People.

Migration is not a crisis by itself.
Poor planning, fear, and neglect create the crisis.

When handled with dignity and sense, migration becomes what it has always been—a human response to hope, need, and survival.

⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ

Digital Albums by Darem Placer on Bandcamp — **daremplacer.bandcamp.com**

When people hear the name Lorenzo Ruiz, they usually recall the basics: first Filipino saint, martyred in Japan, feast on September 28. But his story is not clean or polished. It is messy, unfinished, and real.

An Ordinary Man

Lorenzo was born in Binondo around 1600. He was a husband, father of three, and a calligrapher for the Dominicans. His careful handwriting filled church records, yet none of his own words remain. No diary, no letters. Everything we know comes from others.

The Accusation

In 1636, Lorenzo was accused of killing a Spaniard. No proof was ever found, and many believe the charge was false. Still, it was enough to put his life at risk. He joined Dominican missionaries leaving Manila, hoping to escape the danger.

Into Japan

The ship brought him to Japan, then ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate. There, Christianity was banned, and believers faced torture and death. If he had fled an accusation in Manila, he now stood in a land where his faith itself was treated as a crime.

Not Alone

Lorenzo was not alone. With him were others whose names are often forgotten:

• Antonio Gonzalez, a Spaniard who once escaped persecution but chose to return.

• Guillaume Courtet, a French priest who entered Japan in disguise but was exposed when his smooth hands showed he was no laborer.

• Lazaro of Kyoto, a Japanese leper who refused to hide and stayed with the missionaries to the end.

They came from different nations, but they faced the same fate.

The Pit

On September 29, 1637, Lorenzo was tortured by being hung upside down in a pit. It was a slow, crushing death meant to force him to deny his faith. Many could not endure it. He did not give in. His last words were clear and strong:

“I am a Catholic and wholeheartedly do accept death for God; had I a thousand lives, all these to Him shall I offer.”

What We Do Not Know

His wife and children disappear from history. No names remain, no endings recorded. In 1981, he was beatified in Manila—the first time a beatification was held outside Rome. Six years later, in 1987, he was canonized in Rome. Today, many migrants see in him a patron: a man who left home and never returned.

Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions were not perfect heroes. They were ordinary people caught in harsh times. But when the final choice came, they chose faith over fear.

That choice is what turned an ordinary father—and a scattered group of companions—into saints. Their story still leaves us with a question: when our own trial comes, what will we stand for?

ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ