Pope returns to Greek isle at heart of Europe migrant debate

2 years ago 247

LESBOS – Pope Francis returns Sunday to Lesbos, the Greek land astatine the bosom of a monolithic question of migration into Europe six years ago, aft pointedly criticizing European governments connected their existent handling of migrants during a sojourn to 2 hard-hit countries.

The 84-year-old Francis is spending conscionable 2 hours connected the island, visiting a caller migrant holding halfway wherever asylum-seekers unrecorded successful achromatic U.N. containers astatine the water's borderline and barbed ligament fencing lines the campy entrance. On his erstwhile sojourn successful 2016, Francis brought backmost 12 Syrian Muslim refugees with him aboard the papal plane.

The pope is connected a five-day sojourn to Cyprus and Greece that has been dominated by the taxable of migration. In Cyprus connected Friday helium denounced the “culture of indifference" shown to migrants, and successful Athens connected Saturday helium urged European governments to instrumentality successful migrants “in proportionality to each country’s means.”

“Europe continues to stall, falling prey to forms of nationalistic self-interest alternatively than being an motor of solidarity. At times, it appears faltering and uncoordinated,” helium said. “In the past, ideological conflicts prevented the gathering of bridges betwixt eastbound and occidental Europe. Today the contented of migration has led to breaches betwixt southbound and northbound arsenic well.”

Francis said migrants and refugees are contiguous surviving done a “horrendous modern Odyssey,” referring to the past Greek epic poem.

More than 1 cardinal people, galore fleeing warfare successful Iraq and Syria, crossed from Turkey into Greece during 2015 and 2016, with Lesbos the busiest Greek crossing point. An overcrowded exile campy astatine Moria connected the island, which the pope visited successful 2016, was destroyed by a occurrence past year.

Francis volition conscionable Sunday with migrants astatine the replacement camp, presiding implicit a supplication work and besides spending immoderate clip with families wrong their instrumentality homes.

The Vatican was noncommittal connected whether immoderate would permission the land with Francis this clip around. The Vatican connected Friday confirmed that, arsenic portion of Francis' visit, 12 migrants presently surviving successful Cyprus would beryllium relocated to Italy successful the coming weeks and cared for by a Catholic foundation successful Rome.

Among those invited to beryllium connected signifier with Francis connected Sunday is Christian Tango Mukaya, a Congolese begetter of 3 who mislaid way of his woman successful their travel and is hoping his visibility with the pope mightiness reunite them.

“We ever person this anticipation that 1 time we whitethorn each beryllium unneurotic again. That the household tin beryllium unneurotic again,” helium said connected the eve of Francis' arrival.

“We anticipation that the pope coming tin bring change. Change," helium said. “Regarding our condition, we would similar a amended life. We plead with the pope to assistance us, to talk connected our behalf to Europe, to assistance us.”

Greece has precocious built a alloy partition on a conception of the Greek-Turkish onshore borderline and is intercepting boats transporting migrants from the Turkish side. It denies allegations that it is carrying retired summary deportations of migrants reaching Greek territory but quality rights groups accidental galore specified pushbacks person occurred.

Ahead of Sunday’s halt by Francis, quality rights groups person stepped up their disapproval of Greece’s attraction of migrants and of tougher migration policies among the EU's 27 members.

Amnesty International said caller EU-funded detention camps connected Greek islands were successful usurpation of Athens’ commitments to supply planetary extortion to those successful need.

“Under planetary and EU law, asylum-seekers should lone beryllium detained arsenic a substance of past resort,” Amnesty said. “As we feared, Greek authorities are hiding down the legally ambiguous conception of alleged closed-controlled centers to illegally deprive asylum-seekers of their liberty."

The rights radical asked Greece "to urgently retreat this determination and assistance the restrictions.”

Greek Migration Affairs Minister Notis Mitarachi defended Greece's effect successful a connection Sunday, saying it had “selflessly" responded to the situation successful 2015 and was continuing to supply asylum-seekers with protection. But it demanded the EU bash much to assistance front-line countries similar Greece that carnivore a disproportionate load portion “those who exploit chap quality beings are rewarded."

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Gatopoulos contributed from Athens, Greece.

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