Mass migration one of the world's 'grave issues' says Pope Francis who calls on governments to help them reach Europe and avoid any more tragedies



The pope has urged governments to help migrants reach Europe, to avoid more tragic shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

In a letter to the International Labour Conference, Francis said that mass migration was one of the 'grave issues' confronting our world today.



After touching on the issue of unemployment, Francis wrote: 'Another grave and related problem confronting our world is that of mass migration: the sheer numbers of men and women forced to seek work away from their homelands is a cause for concern.'



He wrote to delegates, meeting in Geneva this week: 'Despite their hopes for a better future, they frequently encounter mistrust and exclusion, to say nothing of experiencing tragedies and disasters.'



Pope Francis kisses a baby while in St Peter's Square in the Vatican on Wednesday. He has encouraged governments to help move migrants

He warned: 'Human trafficking is a scourge, a crime against the whole of humanity.'

Francis called for a 'concerted effort …to encourage governments to facilitate the movement of migrants for the benefit of all, thus eliminating human trafficking and perilous travel conditions.'

The letter follows two tragic shipwrecks in the Mediterranean earlier this month. A boat carrying hundreds of migrants sunk 100 miles off the coast of Italy, killing at least 18 with dozens more unaccounted for. A few days earlier 40 people drowned when a boat carrying 130 people sunk off the coast of Libya.





Italy with its southern-most island of Lampedusa just 80 miles off the north African coast, is the first port of call for those seeking new lives in Europe.

More than 40,000 have made the crossing in recent months often on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. Italy says at least half a million more are awaiting a passage to Europe, in camps run by criminal gangs, on the coastline of Libya.



Migrants from Sub-Saharan areas stand on a landing craft of Italy's Navy ship San Giorgio after being rescued in the Mediterranean between the Libyan and Italian coasts on May 14

On board the San Giorgio: The ship is one of five vessels involved in search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily to prevent massive shipwrecks

Following the latest tragedies at sea, the Libyan government said that they could not cope with numbers arriving at their borders from Sub Saharan African countries and would be forced to ‘facilitate’ the movement of migrants to Europe.

And the Italian government threatened to send migrants across Europe without more help from EU countries. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Italy would ignore EU treaties obliging migrants to remain in the country where they first seek asylum. 'We'll just let them go,' he said.

Francis whose parents emigrated from Italy to Argentina in the 1920s has emerged as a staunch defender of immigrants’ rights.