Pope urges Europe to protect migrants in visit to island frontier

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday pressed Europe to do more to protect and integrate migrants as he visited Italy's Lampedusa island, a major port of call for those risking the perilous crossing from Africa.

His trip to the migration frontline was a stark message to both EU and US leaders in a period of both growing intolerance and indifference.

The Catholic Church's first US pope, who has clashed with President Donald Trump's administration over its treatment of migrants, chose to mark July 4, the United States' 250th anniversary of independence, at a migration hotspot.

Leo's visit also comes just two weeks after the European Union's approval of new migrant rules allowing much broader detention powers and the creation of deportation centres outside the bloc.

"From this far-flung corner of Europe on the Mediterranean Sea, one can more clearly perceive the momentous challenge that the phenomenon of migration poses to European societies," Leo told crowds of faithful.

Yet "Europe is capable of addressing the crisis -- in this region -- in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants," he said.

The pope lay a wreath of flowers on the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims at a cemetery on Lampedusa island. By Ciro FUSCO (POOL/AFP)

It should do so "while at the same time assisting developing countries so that no one is forced to emigrate", he added.

The 70-year-old began his visit by praying at the unmarked graves of shipwreck victims.

He then stood alone on the island's rocky shoreline, buffeted by the wind as he looked out to sea, where countless migrant boats have been lost to the waves on the frontier between Africa and Europe.

Leo spoke to a migrant family, before taking the children by the hand and standing along with their pregnant mother at the "Door of Europe", a monument dedicated to people who risk everything in search of a better life.

Solidarity

Lampedusa sits 90 miles (145 kilometres) off the coast of Tunisia and has cared for thousands of migrants -- and taken in their dead.

The visit by the first American pope came on the day the US celebrates 250 years of independence. By Tiziana FABI (POOL/AFP)

The pope thanked the fishing and tourism community of 6,000 "for the solidarity that so many of you have shown".

He also paid homage to those who have died during the crossing, saying "we feel their presence, which challenges us no less than that of those who have landed in need of attention and aid".

In 2013, more than 360 people died in the island's worst shipwreck, and dozens more have drowned in the years since.

The pope also visited the pier where people rescued at sea are brought to safety, and blessed a plaque dedicated to Pope Francis -- who chose Lampedusa for his very first trip following his election in 2013.

Leo's presence "sends a clear message at a time when the global political debate on migration is often framed around borders and deterrence rather than protection and shared responsibility", Filippo Ungaro, spokesman for the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, told AFP.

The pope drew crowds as he arrived to celebrate mass. By Tiziana FABI (AFP)

The pope has previously spoken out against measures to clamp down on undocumented migration, and called the US administration's treatment of immigrants "inhuman".

In a speech on Friday to mark America's 250th birthday, Leo called for "moderation" in US public discourse, and spoke of how "successive waves of immigrants" had shaped the future of the country.

World's deadliest route

The central Mediterranean crossing from north Africa is the deadliest migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 14,000 people landed in Italy during the first six months of the year, most of whom set off from Libya, according to UNHCR. By Tiziana FABI (AFP)

Around 1,330 people died or went missing while attempting it last year, the IOM says.

More than 14,000 people landed in Italy during the first six months of the year, most of whom set off from Libya, according to UNHCR.

Nearly 60 percent of them arrived in Lampedusa, it said.

The numbers are far from the peaks reached in 2011, when tens of thousands arrived in months as maritime border controls disintegrated during the Arab Spring revolts.