Pope Leo stated last week, while he was visiting the Canary Islands, that, “Today, here by the sea, every individual who arrives asks us what remains of our humanity. Sooner or later, it will be known whether we protected life or whether we yielded to indifference.”
As part of his official visit to Spain, the Pope delivered a speech last Thursday at the Arguineguín dock in Gran Canaria, advocating for migrants’ rights and dignity at a time when approximately 1,906 people died last year while attempting to reach Europe via the Atlantic Ocean. The choice of the dock was linked to its nickname, “the dock of shame,” as many Spanish media outlets have shown that migrants were allegedly forced to sleep on the dock, which was reportedly infested with rats, without blankets or minimum hygiene facilities.
“Even today, monsters lurk in these seas: mafias that traffic in despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and those whose indifference allows the poor to be swallowed up by exploitation or oblivion.”
While also condemning the illegal economy behind migration, Pope Leo warned European society that “We cannot grow accustomed to counting the dead.” Pope Leo had also addressed the Spanish Parliament days before, when visiting Madrid, urging politicians to tackle “the tragic drama of migration” with humanity.
Broader Context
2024 set a record for the highest number of arrivals, with 46,000 people reaching Spain. Since then, the number of arrivals has been dropping, but it remains significant. The current EU approach has culminated in stricter European legislation against irregular migration that critics consider to resemble the approach adopted by the current U.S. administration.
While Member States like Italy have spearheaded stricter migration policies and cracked down on rescue NGOs, others, such as Spain, have regularised the status of more than 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers who were already living and working in the country. The Socialist-led government under Pedro Sánchez has, however, received strong criticism from the opposition, especially from the far-right party Vox, whose leader, Santiago Abascal, has described the measure as an immigrant “invasion.”
Pope Leo has also highlighted how migration has become intertwined with growing polarization across Europe, which has intensified hostile rhetoric against irregular migration: “Today, the temptation to gain popularity by fanning the flames of polarization seems to have grown rather than diminished, and human dignity continues to be violated.”
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