These new camps, which are funded by the European Union, are already running on three other Greek islands, Samos, Leros and Kos.įrancis listened intently as one of the camp's residents, Christian Tango Mukaya, a Congolese father of three, thanked him for his show of solidarity and appeal to Europe to let refugees in. The camp, where tents were only recently replaced with containers, is actually a temporary holding center pending the construction on the island of a "closed controlled facility," essentially a detention camp. "It is the strong message of hope and responsibility that is conveyed from Lesbos to the international community," she said. Cypriot officials said a total of 50 would eventually be sent.Ī child looks from the window of a container house at the Karatepe refugee camp before the visit of Pope Francis, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday, Dec. "The arrival of the pope here makes us feel blessed because we hope the pope will take us with him because here we suffer," Kiaku said as she waited in a tent for the pope to arrive.īut no such papal transfers were announced this time around, though during the first leg of Francis' trip in Cyprus, the Vatican announced 12 migrants who had crossed over from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north would be relocated to Italy in the coming weeks. But like little Guilain, she has no identity documents and is stuck.
We have a lot of problems here as refugees, a lot of suffering," said Enice Kiaku from Congo, whose 2-year-old son on her lap was born on Lesbos. "It is a grace for us that the pope is coming here. That concrete gesture of solidarity had raised hopes among the current residents of the Lesbos camp, many of whom have given birth to children here while waiting for their asylum claims to be processed and saw in Francis' visit a chance at finally getting out. World Asylum-Seekers Make Harrowing Journeys In Pandemic, Only To Be Turned Back It was Francis' second trip to Lesbos in five years and he lamented that little had changed since 2016, when Lesbos was at the heart of a massive wave of migration to Europe and Francis brought 12 Syrian Muslim refugees home with him aboard the papal plane. He gave a "thumbs up" after he was serenaded by African women singing a song of welcome.
containers on the edge of the sea lined by barbed wire fencing and draped with laundry hanging from lines.Īrriving at the camp, a maskless Francis took his time walking along the barricades, patting children and babies on the head and posing for selfies. "Please, let us stop this shipwreck of civilization!" Francis said at the Mavrovouni camp, a cluster of white U.N. LESBOS, Greece - Pope Francis returned Sunday to the Greek island of Lesbos to offer comfort to migrants at a refugee camp and blast what he said was the indifference and self-interest shown by Europe "that condemns to death those on the fringes." Pope Francis attends a ceremony at the Karatepe refugee camp, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday, Dec.