No country should be left alone on migration says Pope

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 8 - No country should be left alone to tackle forced migration, which is being driven by a number of factors including poverty, war and the climate crisis, Pope Francis said on Monday.
    "Wars, poverty, the abuse of our common home and the continuous exploitation of its resources, which are at the root of natural disasters, are also driving thousands of people to leave their homeland in search of a future of peace and security," said Francis during a New Year audience with the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See.
    "On their journey, they put their lives at risk on dangerous routes, such as in the Sahara desert, in the Darién forest on the border between Colombia and Panama, in Central America, in northern Mexico, on the border with the United States, and above all in the Mediterranean Sea," he added.
    "In the last decade this, unfortunately, has become a huge graveyard, with successive tragedies also due to unscrupulous human traffickers," continued the pope, recalling that the victims include many minors travelling on their own and urging the Mediterranean to instead become a "laboratory of peace", a " meeting place for different countries and realities on the basis of our common humanity".
    The Argentine pontiff insisted that "migration must be regulated in order to receive, promote, accompany and integrate" new arrivals in respect of "the culture, sensitivities and security of the societies responsible for receiving and integrating them", while also ensuring the conditions for prospective migrants to be able to remain in their countries of origin.
    "Faced with this challenge, no country can be left alone or consider tackling the issue in isolation through more restrictive and repressive legislation, which is sometimes approved under the pressure of fear or to increase electoral consensus," continued Francis.
    "I therefore welcome the European Union's commitment to seek a common solution through the adoption of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, while noting some of its limitations, especially regarding the recognition of the right to asylum and the danger of arbitrary detentions," he added. (ANSA).