This Friday, Pope Francis will begin a visit to the French port city of Marseille, which has been a multi-ethnic and multi-religious “melting pot” for centuries, to argue that the Mediterranean should be a welcoming place for migrants.
The call comes at a time when some European countries are increasingly resorting to border walls and repatriations and there are suspicions of maritime blockades to prevent new flows of refugees from entering.
Francis will chair the closing session of a meeting of Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean, but his two-day visit aims to send a message far beyond Catholics and across Europe and North Africa.
After a prayer at the Basilica of Marseille, the Pope will pray at a monument dedicated to those who died at sea – a number estimated at more than 28,000 since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Francisco, who has repeatedly complained that the Mediterranean has become “the largest cemetery in the world”, confirmed his visit months ago, but this comes just as Italy is once again confronted with a growing number of migrants leaving in vulnerable boats from Tunisia.
After around 10,000 migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa in three days last week – more than its resident population of 6,100 people – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni revived calls for a naval blockade and announced new centers to house those who do not qualify seeking asylum to be held until she can be sent home.
France, in turn, has beefed up border patrols on its southern border with Italy, a few hours’ drive from Marseille, and increased surveillance of the Alps with drones to prevent newcomers from crossing the border.
With the European Parliament elections (next year) approaching and the far right challenging the centrist government’s line, those responsible for the French government remain steadfast.
“France will not accept migrants from Lampedusa,” French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said this week.
“It is not by welcoming more people that we can control a flow that clearly affects our ability to integrate them” into French society, he added.
The Archbishop of Marseille, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, who was born in Algeria and moved to France as a child, argued that “aggressive measures” are not the answer, but admitted that “naive” and pacifist speeches about everyone living together and happily ever after doesn’t help either.
Marseille is one of the most multicultural, multireligious and multiethnic cities on the shores of the Mediterranean, and has long been characterized by a strong presence of migrants living together in a tradition of tolerance.
The French national statistics agency INSEE indicates that in 2019 there were more than 124,000 migrants in a city with 862,000 inhabitants, which is about 14.5% of the population.
Of this share, almost 30,000 were Algerians and thousands came from Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia and other former French colonies in Africa.
Source: DN
