LESBOS – Sending a clear message of solidarity with refugees, Pope Francis has taken three families of Syrian Muslim refugees to Rome after paying an emotional visit to fenced-in refugee center in the Greek island of Lesbos.
“Refugees are not numbers; they are people who have faces, names, stories and need to be treated as such,” Francis tweeted at one point on Saturday, USA Today reported.
Visiting the Greek island, Francis told hundreds of displaced families Saturday that “you are not alone”
Underscoring his supportive message, he welcomed 12 refugees, including six children, on his plane after a five-hour visit to the Moria detention center.
The pope also asked European leaders to do more to help the thousands of refugees stuck in camps.
“I have always said that building walls is not a solution. We saw walls during the last century and they did not resolve anything. We must build bridges. Bridges are built with intelligence, with dialogue, with integration,” he said, according to an official Vatican transcript.
Referring to the impact of war on refugees, the Pope urged manufacturers of arms to spend a day in the camp (in Lesbos),” he said. “I believe that would be good.”
Arriving Rome, the 12 refugees will be cared for in Rome by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic lay organization dedicated to charity, the Vatican said.
“We heard of the EU-Turkey deal which would be implemented on March 20 and decided despite the bad weather to get on one of the boats to Lesbos,” Nour Essa, 30, a Palestinian-Syrian scientist and one of the 12 who returned to Rome with the pope.
“We were very lucky: Friends of ours that were living with us in Turkey that came the next day were not given papers and are still in jail in Moria camp. Instead, we will be refugees in Italy!”
The pope made the rounds among many of the refugees, shaking hands with young people along a fence and later addressing the group.
“I want to tell you that you are not alone,” he said.
“In these weeks and months, you have endured much suffering in your search for a better life. Many of you felt forced to flee situations of conflict and persecution for the sake, above all, of your children, your little ones.”
As the conflict in Syria entered its fifth year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has released a new report that the number of children affected by the civil war in Syria has more than doubled over the past year.
UNICEF said the child casualty rates were the highest recorded in any recent conflict in the region.
It cited UN figures that at least 10,000 children have been killed in the Syrian war but noted that the real number is probably higher.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said that more than 136,000 have been killed since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.