BY Bridget Orr | April 18 | 
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Pope returns to Vatican with Syrian refugee families
Holy Father says the gesture was ‘a drop in the ocean,’ but if Europe followed suit, this would mean that 6 million people would be given asylum
Pope Francis brought 12 Syrian refugees home to the Vatican on Saturday after visiting the migrant-processing camps in the Greek island of Lesbos on a humanitarian mission.
Lots were drawn in a ballot at the camps or the opportunity to relocate to the Vatican city and the successful families are in the care of the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic lay organisation committed to social justice.
Some of the refugees told their stories to La Stampa. Hasan, an engineer from Damascus, fled with his wife Nour and their 2-year-old son after seeing ‘friends and relatives die in the rubble.’ After the family fled to Turkey, they travelled to the Greek coast in an ‘overloaded’ rubber dinghy, but compared the camps in Lesbos to ‘a prison.’
The rescued families said they are grateful to the Pope and described their hopes and fears for the future of Syria. Ramy, a 51-year-old teacher, fled his home with his wife, Suhila, and three children when Islamic State took over their city.
“We don’t know whether we will start over in Europe or whether, one day, we will be able to return to a Syria free of war and violence,” he told La Stampa. “We will prove ourselves worthy of this opportunity and the gift he gave us.”
During the flight to Rome with the refugees, the Pope claimed this was ‘a drop in the ocean,’ hoping that ‘the ocean will never be the same again.’
There are now 20 refugees living in the Vatican, which has a population of around 1000 people. If the rest of Europe followed the same trend as the Vatican, this would mean that six million people would be given asylum to join the current population of over 300 million.
Migrant arrivals in Greece have fallen significantly this year, following the closure of borders and the announcement of the EU-Turkey deal. Under the agreement, migrants arriving illegally on the Greek islands from Turkey after 20 March this year would be deported unless they successfully claim for asylum. In return, for every Syrian returned to Turkey, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey.
Pic: Pope Francis is followed by Syrian refugees as he disembarks from this flight from the Greek island of Lesbos at Ciampino airport in Rome on Saturday. The Pope concluded his one-day visit to Greece by bringing 12 Syrian refugees to Italy aboard his flight.
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