In his message for the 112th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Leo chose the theme “Even Just One of These Children (cf. Mt 18:10).” He advocated for the Universal Church, every Christian, and civil institutions to commit to welcoming, protecting, and caring for migrant and refugee children. In another message for the 11th World Day of Prayer for the Care for Creation, he speaks about peace and urges us to renew our hearts so that we may seek peace and care for creation: “Today, we are witnessing many crises and much human suffering. At the same time, it seems that the disruption to the harmonious balance of creation is accelerating. These phenomena are not unrelated; they are a single plea for healing and peace arising from a wounded world.”
Refugee overview in Malaysia
What the Pope expressed in his message can be seen happening right here in our country. As of February 2026, Malaysia has about 215,600 registered refugees, of which 68,640 are children under the age of 18. Almost 90% of these refugees are from Myanmar—a country that has suffered from civil unrest and genocide for many years. This crisis has pushed 1.2 million Rohingya to escape north to Bangladesh and forced 4 million people from other Myanmar ethnic groups to migrate to Thailand. Out of desperation, some choose to risk coming to Malaysia by engaging human traffickers—a choice that speaks to their fundamental need for life and safety—hoping to keep their families safe and find an opportunity to rebuild their lives here.
Our pastoral work with the refugees
Besides responding to emergency crises, Caritas Penang also promotes integral human development among the refugees. This Rohingya community that we work with demonstrates strong resilience, and parents deeply desire for their children to receive an education. However, rent in the city is beyond their means. When their learning centre closed, the children used a small community mosque to study. We worked with the teacher, parents, and kind Malaysians to secure a place for them to use as a new learning centre and empower their young adults to teach the younger children. The journey was not without hurdles; together, we faced many challenges regarding legal, protection, and resource issues. Despite this, the parishes continue to support them with reading materials, volunteer teachers, and friendship.
Encouragement and empowerment
In this World Day of Migrants and Refugees and Season of Creation, Caritas Penang, together with Parish Caritas, brought the children on an outing. Thirty students visited the Tzu Chi Environmental Protection and Education Centre to learn practical ways to recycle and manage waste. While others often blame marginalized communities for poor hygiene, we view this as an opportunity to empower them. During this half-day awareness event, Tzu Chi volunteers prepared games to educate the children on waste segregation, conducted a workshop with presentations and activities to help them remember the 5Rs, and concluded with a reflection session.
What the children, teachers and volunteers think:
“First of all, I really liked the teamwork. We were able to work together to have fun and earn rewards. We also learned about the environment and how to protect it by recycling, reducing, repairing, and refusing.” — Tai, student, 14 years old
“Today I experienced what it is like to work as a team and have fun. I also learned how to keep our environment clean. I even learned about the 5Rs, which are: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle.” — Rom, student, 14 years old
“It was a great experience for me to learn about the five ways we can manage materials responsibly: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle. The trip helped me understand how these simple actions can reduce waste and protect our Earth from pollution. I really enjoyed the experience and learned many useful things that I can apply in my daily life.” — Aly, Assistant teacher, 19 years old
“The trip was an interesting and meaningful learning experience for me. I discovered how the five actions—refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle—can help us manage materials wisely and avoid unnecessary waste. It also made me realize that small changes in our everyday habits can make a big difference in keeping our environment clean and healthy. I truly enjoyed the visit and gained valuable knowledge that I hope to practice in my daily life.” — Eji, Assistant teacher, 21 years old
“In this educational session, students learned about the 5R principles and how small, responsible actions can help protect our environment. Every small action makes a difference. Let’s keep our community clean, reduce waste, and care for our planet together.” — Teacher Olyas
“Today’s field trip to the Tzu Chi Environmental Education Centre with the children was wonderful. It celebrated friendship, diversity, and knowledge by creating a comfortable space for all the children to enjoy this enriching experience.” — Susan, Caritas Church of Divine Mercy, Sg Ara
“The center is well organised and truly aligned with Catholic social teaching regarding care for our common home and Laudato Si’. It is a true example of putting Laudato Si’ into action—as quoted by Tzu Chi, an action or movement that brings about sustainable goodness to society. I applaud the initiative by Caritas Penang for supporting the Rohingya community. It is, and will always be, a challenge to handle refugee issues in any country. While the church, through Caritas, grapples with day-to-day issues regarding refugees, we should also work with others to continue advocating for peace, love, and justice, and to be a voice for the Myanmar refugees.” — Lawrence, Caritas Church of Divine Mercy, Sg Ara
In his message for the 112th World Day of Migr ants and Refugees, Pope Leo said:
“Even just one of these children calls each one of us, in our personal lives, to open our eyes and hearts to a profound listening to his or her story, fears and dreams, overcoming that detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic that does not directly concern us. It is an invitation to recognize the dignity of each child, even before considering the condition of being a ‘migrant,’ and to safeguard his or her fundamental rights: the right to life, education and a standard of living that enables full physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.”
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me” (Mk 9:37). How will you make a difference in the lives of migrant and refugee children?
