Pope wears refugee ID bracelet in appeal for help and love for migrants
... says ," If we look on our neighbours without mercy we risk that even God will look on us without mercy"
Pontiff of the Catholic church, Pope Francis has called for more help for migrants from
governments and people around the world. He also urged that migrants should not be seen as enemies .
Leader of the the World's Catholics made the call while visiting "The Hub" a drab refugee center on the outskirts of Bologna. He was wearing a plastic ID bracelet used by asylum seekers to drive
home his message.
The ID bearing his name and the
number 3900003 which e wore on his right wrist was given to him by an African
refugee.
"The Hub" which is run by a charity organization is home to 1,000
asylum seekers, most of whom took the life atrocious journey to reach Europe crossing the
Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East.
About 600,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy in less than four years and over 13,000 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to get to Italy and other European Countries.
The settlement is made up of grey containers and other forms of temporary housing while awaiting decisions on their asylum requests to be moved to other towns in Italy.
Many of the refugees and migrants are without documents and all wear a plastic yellow bracelet.
"Many who don't know you are afraid of you," he told them as a light drizzle fell. "That makes them think they have the right to judge you coldly and harshly," he told the refugees.
Pope Francis homage to those who "never arrived because they were eaten up by the desert or the sea".
He called on more governments to facilitate initiatives backed by the private sector and community groups to set up "humanitarian corridors for refugees in the most difficult situations."
This was a reference to programmes such as one run in Italy by the Rome-based Sant' Egidio peace community, which regularly brings into Italy refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria.
The defence of migrants and refugees is a major plank of his Pope Francis's papacy.
Speaking further, Pope Francis condemned internet trolling against foreigners, saying they had been subjected to "terrible phrases and insults."
"If we look on our neighbours without mercy we risk that even God will look on us without mercy," he said.
The pope's defence of migrants, his second in less than a week,
comes at a time of growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States
and many European countries where far-right parties have made inroads.
Last week, the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (Afd) party surged to third place in a national election, tapping into public disquiet over the arrival of more than a million migrants in Germany over the past two years.
Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League, whose base is in the regions just north of Bologna, has vowed to clamp down on migration from developing countries if it forms part of a coalition government after the Country's general elections in 2018.
.
About 600,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy in less than four years and over 13,000 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to get to Italy and other European Countries.
The settlement is made up of grey containers and other forms of temporary housing while awaiting decisions on their asylum requests to be moved to other towns in Italy.
Many of the refugees and migrants are without documents and all wear a plastic yellow bracelet.
"Many who don't know you are afraid of you," he told them as a light drizzle fell. "That makes them think they have the right to judge you coldly and harshly," he told the refugees.
Pope Francis homage to those who "never arrived because they were eaten up by the desert or the sea".
He called on more governments to facilitate initiatives backed by the private sector and community groups to set up "humanitarian corridors for refugees in the most difficult situations."
This was a reference to programmes such as one run in Italy by the Rome-based Sant' Egidio peace community, which regularly brings into Italy refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria.
The defence of migrants and refugees is a major plank of his Pope Francis's papacy.
Speaking further, Pope Francis condemned internet trolling against foreigners, saying they had been subjected to "terrible phrases and insults."
"If we look on our neighbours without mercy we risk that even God will look on us without mercy," he said.
Last week, the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (Afd) party surged to third place in a national election, tapping into public disquiet over the arrival of more than a million migrants in Germany over the past two years.
Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League, whose base is in the regions just north of Bologna, has vowed to clamp down on migration from developing countries if it forms part of a coalition government after the Country's general elections in 2018.
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