Pope Francis on Saturday urged EU leaders to treat migrants humanely and challenged the characterization of the recent surge in arrivals across the Mediterranean Sea as an emergency, calling it a long-term reality instead.
“Those who risk their lives at sea do not invade, they look for welcome, for life,” the pope said in a speech in the French city of Marseille, the Associated Press reported.
“As for the emergency, the phenomenon of migration is not so much a short-term urgency, always good for fueling alarmist propaganda, but a reality of our times, a process that involves three continents around the Mediterranean and that must be governed with wise foresight, including a European response capable of coping with the objective difficulties,” the pontiff said.
The comments made by the leader of the Catholic Church come after a boom in arrivals in Lampedusa, the small Italian island between the coasts of Sicily and Tunisia, which is a frequent landing destination for migrants making the dangerous journey between Africa and Europe.
More than 10,000 irregular migrants have arrived on the island in recent weeks, prompting a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as a tough response from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised to step up efforts to repatriate the arrivals. The Italian government has increased the amount of time that irregular migrants can be detained to 18 months and is ordering new centers to house them.
France, meanwhile, has increased checks along its borders to intercept migrants arriving from Italy.
“May we let ourselves be moved by the stories of so many of our unfortunate brothers and sisters who have the right both to emigrate and not to emigrate, and not become closed in indifference,” said the pope at a regional meeting of Catholic bishops in Marseille, which French President Emmanuel Macron also attended.
