Over the weekend, Pope Francis visited the migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos for the first time since 2016 and called Europe’s immigration crisis a “shipwreck of civilization.”

“Migrant sisters and brothers, I am here on Lesvos to say I am near you, to look into your eyes full of fear and expectancy, eyes that have seen violence and poverty, eyes streaked by too many tears. Migration is a humanitarian crisis that concerns everyone," Francis said in a post to his official Twitter account on Dec. 5. 

The Lesbos facility is currently the home of almost 2,200 refugees. The pope said that countries need to address the root causes that drive people to flee from their homelands, rather than using refugees for “political propaganda.”  

“The future will be prosperous only if it is reconciled with those who are the weakest" Francis said in his post. "When we reject the poor, we reject peace. History teaches us that narrow self-interest and nationalism lead to disastrous consequences.”

Francis also appealed to building a better world for children. 

“Let’s look at the faces of the children" Francis said in another post on Dec. 5. "They challenge and ask us: ‘What kind of world do you want to give us?’ Let’s not hastily turn away from the shocking pictures of their tiny bodies lying lifeless on the beaches. Let’s stop this shipwreck of civilization.”

One million people fleeing war in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan traveled through Turkey to Greece in 2015 and 2016.

In 2019 a more conservative government came to power in Greece and toughened its immigration policies. However, large numbers of refugees continue to arrive in Greece and its islands. In August 2021, around 42,000 asylum-seekers arrived in Greece. More than double that number had arrived in August 2020.

Several walled-off facilities have been constructed to house migrants in Greece. Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said that Greece has been forced to make its immigration policies stricter because Greece has not been receiving enough support from the EU. He said that it and the other Mediterranean countries – Italy, Spain, Malta, and Cyprus – have had to bear the brunt of migration.

Some migrants try to flee to the UK through France by swimming across the Channel. On Nov. 24, 27 people drowned while trying to make the swim. 

Pope Francis has previously criticized the United States’ southern border immigration practices.  

In 2019 he spoke out against the border wall. He also encouraged then-President Trump not to reinstate the policy of separating children from parents. The Catholic Church recognizes the right of sovereign nations to protect their borders, but also recognizes the dignity of every person and their right to seek safety and employment.