However, media quoted Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi as saying the Pope’s trip was humanitarian and ecumenical.
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“On his visit to Lesbos this Saturday, Pope Francis should visit the Lesbos Solidarity Camp (PIKPA), a volunteer-run camp that since 2012 has given shelter, care and comfort to thousands of the most vulnerable asylum seekers who have reached the Greek island of Lesbos by boat”, the statement said.
Lesbos’ mayor and island officials urged residents to welcome Francis when he visits the island’s main town of Mytilene – describing the trip as a blow to “racism, fanaticism and xenophobia”.
“I don’t trust leaders”. I trust people. You can’t side with the refugees and with the politicians deporting them.
Their presence on Lesbos, where more than half of all those heading to Europe first landed, will be highly symbolic at a time of growing criticism of the March 18 EU-Turkey deal, which stipulates anyone arriving on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece.
One million refugees have made their way to Greece over the past year. The migration was halted earlier this year after Austria and Balkan countries imposed strict border controls – leaving some 50,000 people transiting through Greece stranded.
Pakistani migrant Ayaz Islam Khan spoke to the AP through a razor-wire fence Friday at the Lesbos camp when police briefly wandered away.
Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters the proposals make clear “there are duties and obligations for all who come to us”.
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For every Syrian sent back, the European Union will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. The scandal, which helped bring about Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, began in 2012 when an Italian journalist broadcast letters from Vigano, then the No. 2 Vatican administrator, to Benedict.
