Shafaqna English– At a meeting with migrants and the organisations that rescue them in Gran Canaria, Pope Leo calls for legal and safe migration pathways, denounces human trafficking and exploitation.
On the sixth day of his Apostolic Journey to Spain, Pope Leo XIV on Thursday issued an urgent appeal for compassion, responsibility and solidarity, insisting that “human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border.”
Pope Leo also stressed that migration policy must be rooted in respect for human dignity, and he called for legal and safe pathways, effective protection for trafficking victims, international cooperation against smugglers, and meaningful processes of reception and integration.
While reaffirming the right to seek refuge, he also spoke of another often overlooked right: the right not to be forced to flee: “There is also the right not to have to migrate,” he said, the right to remain in one’s homeland free from hunger, war, persecution, corruption and environmental degradation.
Source: Vatican News