Do not take advantage of political immigrants, the pope said during a visit to Lesbos | Migration Issues

The head of the Catholic Church worldwide, Pope Francisco, has denounced Europeans for their fears and indifference to refugees during his second visit to the Greek island of Lesbos.

The head of the Catholic Church worldwide, Pope Francisco, has condemned the European public’s indifference to the plight of immigrants as “a breach of civilization” during a visit to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

On Sunday, a Catholic priest arrived at the Mavrovouni camp, where about 2,200 people sought refuge. He is on the second day of a five-day tour of Greece and Cyprus governed by the issue of migration.

“I urge every man and woman, all of us, to overcome the fear, the indifference, the apathy, the rude contempt that condemns the death of those on the margins,” he said. “Please, let’s stop the shipwreck of this development.”

In Latin, he appealed to the Mediterranean Sea as a bridge between cultures.

“We must not allow our sea (mare nostrum) to be turned into a sea of ​​death (mare mortuum),” he said.

He also criticized the brutality of immigrants for political reasons, lamenting that Europe had entered a “time of wall and barbed wire”.

The pope visited Lesbos for the last time in 2016, when more than one million people crossed from Turkey to Greece and the island became one of the busiest. crossing points. During the ceremony, Francis brought 12 Muslim refugees from Syria home with him in the papal plane.

Such evacuations were not created this time around, but a trip to the camp brought hope among the residents, some of whom have given birth to children waiting for their security information to be finalized.

Enice Kiaku, from Congo, gave birth to Guiliain two years ago. He was born on a Greek island but has no documents.

“The pope’s arrival here makes us feel happy,” Kiaku told The Associated Press. “We have a lot of problems here as refugees, a lot of suffering.”

Francis was welcomed by a group of African women who sang for him. She rubbed the heads of children and babies as she toured the camp and took selfies.

Pope Francis greets children at the Mavrovouni camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. [Vatican Media/­Handout via Reuters]

He was accompanied by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Deputy President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas.

Greece has recently built a steel wall along its border with Turkey and is blocking the flow of refugees from the Turkish side.

It denies allegations that it is making a brief repatriation of Greek immigrants, but human rights groups say a number of protests have taken place.

Francis also listened to the residents of the camp, among them Christian Tango Mukaya, a Congolese father of three, who thanked the Pope for showing solidarity and his appeal to Europe.

The fugitive said he had lost the reputation of his wife and third child on their trip and hoped his appearance with the pope could reunite them.

Mavrovouni is a temporary site awaiting construction on the island of the “closed area”.

This is new closed camps, sponsored by the European Union, is already moving to three other Greek islands, Samos, Leros and Kos.

Amnesty International says new EU-assisted prisons on Greek islands are violating Athens’ promise to provide global security to those in need.