One of the first things he did upon his arrival on the Island of Lampedusa, Pope Francis
laid a wreath in the waters in memory of the tens of thousands of migrants who have
died trying to reach Europe in unsafe and overcrowded boats.
Most of them
have no names. We do not know their personal stories, their hopes and certainly not
their faces. But almost 20.000 people are thought to have died during their journey
of hope, across the Mediterranean sea, in the past 25 years.
The migrants are
all illegal so of course there are no official figures available. But Italian organizations
who deal with the issue of migration estimate that over 19,000 migrants have met with
their death whilst crossing the Mediterranean.
They are men, women and children,
fleeing hunger, war, persecution and poverty. Their desperation is such that they
risked their lives in search of hope for a better future in Europe.
Last year
Italy registered 13,245 landings. Almost 5,000 were registered in the first months
of 2013. News of more, almost daily landings on the Island of Lampedusa, also speaks
of the many who didn’t make it in dilapidated and overloaded boats.
Many of
the refugees originally come from sub-Saharan Africa, and would have made the long
overland journey to north Africa on foot or by bus, to find work.
Each year
on June 20, to coincide with the World Day for Refugees, a prayer vigil takes place
in Rome for all the refugees who have lost their lives trying to get into Europe.
The
evening prayer vigil at the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere is organised by the
Community of Sant'Egidio in collaboration with other associations who care for migrants.
The
vigil is entitled “To die of hope” and is generally lead by the President of the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
Vatican
Radio’s Linda Bordoni spoke to St. Egidio's Cecilia Pani about the prayer vigil and
about the scenario behind it...
listen...
Cecilia explains
that St. Egidio has been collecting news about the people who have died, mainly in
the Mediterranean Sea because "we were struck about so many people dying, but no one
knew their names or their stories". The newspapers, she says, carry numbers and statistics
conveying the idea that "some sort of invasion of Italy is taking place. That's why
we started to collect names and stories. On this occasion we remember the people who
disappeared".
These people are men, women, children - even babies - entire
families have disappeared in the waters, coming from all over the world.
Cecilia
says these are people who fled their countries, many of them wanting to ask for asylum,
most of them fleeing dire economic situations. She remembers that Pope Paul VIth called
them "economic refugees" - people escaping not only because of political problems
but because their land gave them no possibility to live.
Cecilia says the ones
who manage to reach our countries are the strongest. "You need money, courage, strength
and good health to undertake this trip".
These people, she points out, allow
us to open our mentality and open our eyes on the future of the world. Our future
in Europe is with other people, she says, in particular with people from Africa. "The
future of Europe is with Africa" - and she refers to the global aging of the European
population and the need we have of young people to work. And she speaks of cultural
awareness, "of course Europe is a continent with a long history, but in the globalised
world we can only develop if we open our borders".
Cecilia says these people
are aware of the dangers they are about to face when they undertake their journey
of hope. Many of them travel for months by all sorts of means.
She remembers
the tragic fate of 2 young boys from Guinea Conacrì in 1999 who hid in the belly of
an aeroplane in the attempt to reach Europe to study. Their bodies were discovered
in Brussels many days later...
She says we can do much to avoid this kind of
tragedy. But also, she says "there is place for these people: we need them". We must
not be afraid of "invasions", we must help them cross the borders in a safe way "because
the danger is not for us Europeans, it is for them - for their lives...".