The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, called on European countries to accept immigrants from the south of the Mediterranean, as well as Ukrainians.
Visiting Malta at the weekend, the Pope also went to an immigration center there. He met with immigrants and said that “the ship of civilization is at risk of sinking” along with the people who died in the sinking of the immigrant boats in the Mediterranean.
Pope Francis drew attention to the “crimes” faced by immigrants trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean at the press conference on his return flight from Malta to Italy on Sunday evening.
“Immigrants should always be accepted,” said the Pope, and called for “the opening of doors to those coming from the Mediterranean, just as Europe has generously opened its doors to Ukrainians.”
Stating that what he heard at the immigration reception center he visited in Malta was “terrible”, the Pope said, “The suffering of those who reach here, the concentration camps in Libya, the way of suffering of these people (Via Crucis) is like a crime.”
‘**Let Mare Nostrum not be the largest cemetery in Europe**’
Pope Francesco, who has frequently repeated the message of accepting immigrants since he was elected to this duty in 2013, made his first trip to Lampedusa Island, which is on the immigration route of Italy.
Reminding the immigrants he met in Malta this weekend, his trip to Lampedusa in 2013, the Pope said, “I came here to see your faces, to look into your eyes. I have never forgotten you since I went to Lampedusa. You are always in my heart and prayers.”
The Pope also emphasized that countries such as Malta, Italy and Spain, which are on the migration route because they are the closest European coasts to Africa and the Middle East, need the support of other continental countries in the distribution of immigrants.
“Many of our brothers in search of hope have reached Malta from Africa,” said the Pope, adding that other European countries should not remain indifferent to this problem.
Reiterating what he had said before during his visit to the Greek immigration center on Lesbos, the Pope said, “Mare Nostrum should not become the largest cemetery in Europe.”
90 deaths in sinking migrant boat
While the Pope’s immigration-oriented visit to Malta was continuing, news came that a migrant boat had sunk in the Mediterranean.
Doctors Without Borders organization announced that a boat carrying about 100 people, trying to reach Europe from Libya, sank on Saturday, and only 4 people were saved. It is estimated that more than 90 people died in the incident.
Doctors Without Borders stated that 4 people rescued by a commercial ship called Alegria 1 were forcibly taken back to Libya.
Emphasizing that Libya is not a safe harbor for migrants, the organization said, “These people need urgent protection and treatment. Rescued persons should not be taken back to a place where they will face detention, abuse and ill-treatment.”