Pope Francis has strongly decried the treatment of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to enter Europe, saying it was a “grave sin” not to offer aid to migrant vessels.
“There are those who work systematically and with every means to reject migrants,” the pontiff said during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday. ”And this, when done with conscience and responsibility, is a grave sin.”
The pope has spoken frequently about the treatment of migrants over his 11-year papacy. But his words on Wednesday, invoking Catholic terminology for one of the worst kinds of sin, were especially strong.
Migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in simple crafts or home-made dinghies from northern Africa and the Middle East have been the subject of intense debate across Europe over the past decade.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 30,000 migrants crossing the Mediterranean have gone missing since 2014.
Francis called for expanding access routes for migrants and a “global governance of migration based on justice, brotherhood and solidarity.”
The pope said the issue would not be resolved through the “militarisation of borders”.
Earlier this week, the government of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni impounded a humanitarian rescue ship for the 23rd time, as Italy steps up its clampdown on migration across the Mediterranean.
Médecins Sans Frontières accused Ms Meloni’s administration of an “arbitrary and inhumane decision” after its civilian search and rescue vessel, Geo Barents, was detained this week in the port of Salerno, near Naples.
Italian authorities ordered the 60-day detention, one of the most significant seizures in an 18-month campaign against humanitarian ships operating in the Mediterranean, on Monday night after Geo Barents disembarked 191 rescued migrants at the port.
Rome accused Geo Barents of endangering lives and failing to provide prompt information to Italian authorities during a night-time rescue in the central Mediterranean early on Friday.
MSF rejects any wrongdoing and said the crew of Geo Barents intervened after seeing a significant number of people falling — or being pushed — overboard from a small fibreglass boat, as a Libyan coastguard vessel approached.
The charity said it had “no choice” but to carry out the rescue.
Ms Meloni’s hard-right Brothers of Italy party has been touting her success at curbing irregular migrant inflows, following a sharp fall in the number of people reaching Italian shores without permission. However, humanitarian groups such as MSF, Oxfam Italia and SOS Humanity have accused Rome of the “systematic obstruction of civilian search and rescue activities”, which they say is now taking a toll in human lives.
The groups filed formal complaints to Brussels more than a year ago, asking the European Commission to determine whether Rome’s rules were consistent with EU and international law. Brussels is still assessing the arguments.
In recent weeks, the pope had been offering a series of reflections about Catholic spiritual matters in his weekly audiences. At the beginning of his latest remarks, the pope said he was postponing that series this week, to consider “people who are crossing seas and deserts to find a place where they can live in peace and security”.
Wednesday’s audience was the last before Francis, aged 87, embarks next week for a four-country 11-day visit across Southeast Asia. It will be the longest trip yet by the pontiff, who now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain. - Reuters/Financial Times
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