Pope Francis today called the European Union (EU) to a migration policy agreed with all countries and affirmed “that it cannot leave alone” Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, with responsibility to deal with migrants arriving on its shores.
During the press conference on the plane returning from his trip to Bahrain and when asked about the attitude of the new Italian government towards migrants, Francis stressed that “each EU government has to agree on how many immigrants it can accept » and not just the four mentioned.
Francis recalled that “at sea, the lives of migrants must be saved” because “the Mediterranean has become the largest cemetery in the world.”
«The migration policy is agreed upon with all the EU countries, which have to take this situation in hand with a policy of collaboration and help because they cannot leave alone, and with all the responsibility of the migrants who arrive in Spain, Cyprus , Italy and Greece,” he stressed.
The pope defends a consensual policy for migrants: The responsibility is European
The Italian government, chaired by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, wants to put an end to the entry of NGO ships into Italian waters, and has not allowed the ships to disembark for days.
Faced with pressure due to the situation in which migrants find themselves, today it applied a new strategy for managing the migratory flow in the Mediterranean in a new pulse with the NGOs: choose the immigrants who are allowed to get off the humanitarian ships based on their vulnerable situation.
The pope, sitting in front of the journalists, due to his knee problems, pointed out “that neither the left nor the right governments can do anything, because the responsibility lies with Europe.”
Stop exploiting Africa so people don’t flee
He also cited what he said was a proposal by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ensure that “the problem of African migrants must be solved in Africa” and change the mentality that “Africa must be exploited, because then it is logical that people escape ».
“Some African countries do not even own their subsoil, it is hypocrisy to want to solve the problem if we do not first solve what is happening in Africa,” he added.
Regarding the new government of Meloni, the pope wished him the best so that “he can take Italy forward” and asked the rest of the parties for a constructive and collaborative opposition “and called for responsibility so that the Executive does not fall again, since He said that “it is not fair” that the country has had so many governments in a few years.