Pope Francis calls for solutions to Libya's migrant crisis
Pope Francis during the Angelus prayer from his window in the Vatican, October 24, 2021. via REUTERS - VATICAN MEDIA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The head of the Catholic Church again advocates a dignified welcome for migrants and the end of repatriations to Libya.
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With our correspondent in Rome,
Blandine Hugonnet
It was after the Sunday prayer of the Angelus, in front of a parterre of the faithful in St. Peter's Square that Pope Francis turned his gaze to Libya.
He wished to express his closeness and his thoughts to the thousands of migrants and refugees in the Libyan camps.
Of
men, women and children
subjected to inhuman violence, the pope said, "
hear the screams
" when migrants were targeted by
violent raids
earlier this month in Libya.
The head of the Catholic Church called on the international community to keep its promise to seek common, concrete and lasting solutions for the management of migratory flows throughout the Mediterranean.
"
Let those who were sent back to Libya suffer so much!"
C
e are real detention camps there.
We must put an end to the return of migrants to
"unsafe"
countries and
prioritize the rescue of human lives at sea, with organized rescue and disembarkation devices.
Guarantee them decent living conditions, alternatives to detention, legal immigration routes and access to asylum applications
, ”François declared.
►
To read also: Migrants: Ursula von der Leyen does not want "barbed wire or wall" at the borders of the EU
The Pope in December on the island of Lesbos
And as if to recall that the subject of the reception of migrants has been close to his heart since the beginning of his pontificate, the Sovereign Pontiff launched this new appeal after the announcement this week of his next trip: a trip to Greece in early December where the pope will return, as
in 2016
, to the migrant camps on the island of Lesbos.
Italy continues to face the almost daily arrival of hundreds of migrants on its coasts.
On Sunday, the NGO Alarm Phone announced that two inflatable boats carrying 60 and 68 people respectively in the Mediterranean were in urgent need of intervention.
►
See also: Libya: humanitarian flights resume, migrants increasingly vulnerable
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Vatican
Pope Francis
Libya
International Migration
Refugees