‘Some refugee centres concentration camps’

ROME: Pope Francis on Saturday described some of Europe’s refugee centres as “concentration camps”, as he paid tribute to an unknown Christian woman slain for her faith in front of her Muslim husband.

“These refugee camps -- so many are concentration camps, crowded with people... because international accords seem more important than human rights,” Francis said in impromptu remarks at a ceremony in memory of modern-day Christian martyrs.

Departing from his prepared script and appearing unusually emotional as he spoke, the 80-year-old pontiff said he wanted the woman to be remembered along with all the other martyrs commemorated in Rome’s Basilica of St Bartholomew.

He revealed that he had met the woman’s husband and their three children during his visit to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos last year.

“I do not know what happened to him, if he managed to get out of his concentration camp, and get to somewhere else” Francis said.

“He looked at me and said ‘Father, I am a Muslim and my wife was a Christian. In our country we were terrorised ... they saw her crucifix and they asked her to throw it away.

“When she refused they cut her throat in front of my eyes. We loved each other so much.”

Francis did not reveal the man’s nationality but most of the migrants in Lesbos at the time of his visit were refugees from the conflict in Syria and he returned to Rome with three families who had fled the conflict there.

They have since begun new lives in Rome and the pope met on Saturday with other refugees brought to Europe by legal routes under the auspices of the Sant’Egidio community.

He told them all that Europe needed to be infected by the generous spirit towards migrants that has been shown by the people of Lesbos and the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Sicily.

“We live in a civilisation that is not having children, but also closes its door to migrants: this is called suicide,” he said.

“Let us think about the cruelty afflicting so many people, about the exploitation of those arriving on boats.

“Italy and Greece are providing a welcome but then international agreements mean they cannot move on.”

Francis also upbraided the growing number of Italian politicians claiming the country cannot cope with an influx which has seen over half a million migrants arrive on its territory in the last three years.