After Channel deaths, pope urges leaders to respect migrants’ humanity

Pope Francis appealed on Sunday for authorities to “respect the humanity” of migrants and try to assist them, after Britain and France traded barbs over the deaths of 27 migrants as they tried to cross the Channel.
Francis devoted practically all of his Sunday message to the defence of migrants, telling a number of thousand folks in St. Peter’s Square that he felt ache over current tragedies.
“Let us think of how many migrants are exposed in these very days to very grave dangers and how many lose their lives on our borders,” he mentioned.
“I feel pain when I hear news of the situation in which so many find themselves, those who died in the Channel, those at the border of Belarus, many of whom are children, those who drown in the Mediterranean,” he mentioned.
Francis raised his voice when he mentioned “children”.
After the drownings within the Channel, French President Emmanuel Macron informed Britain it wanted to “get serious” or stay locked out of discussions over how you can curb the move of migrants escaping battle and poverty.
France later cancelled an invite to British Home Secretary Priti Patel to attend a gathering on the difficulty on Sunday in Calais.
“I renew my heartfelt appeal to those who can contribute to the resolution of these problems, particularly civilian and military authorities, so that understanding and dialogue finally prevail over every type of exploitation and so that they direct their wills and efforts toward solutions that respect the humanity of these people,” the Pope mentioned.
Francis, who has made defence of migrants and refugees a cornerstone of his papacy, condemned traffickers. Migrants that had been returned to North Africa, he mentioned, have been decreased to slavery, with girls offered and males tortured.