GENEVA, 8 July 2013 (ICMC) - Pope Francis today visits the Italian island of Lampedusa to bring attention to the “global indifference” to the plight of the many migrants lost at sea trying to reach Europe through one of its primary entry points from Africa.

"Adam, where are you?”, the Pope asked in his homily. "Who is responsible for the blood of these brothers and sisters? No one! We all respond this way: not me, it has nothing to do with me, there are others, certainly not me."

Underscoring the importance of rescuing and showing compassion for people who risked their lives in search of a better future the Pope’s visit comes the day after some 166 African migrants reached Lampedusa’s port — among them several pregnant women and children — when their boat’s engine broke down seven miles off the coast of the Italian island.

As often times the stories are of capsized boats leading to new human tragedies, his visit is reportedly inspired by a recent fatal shipwreck of a boat carrying several migrants. More than 50,000 people have since 2011 arrived to the island, only 113 kilometres away from Tunisia, in a surge caused by unrest in North Africa. According Human Rights Watch, up to 13,500 migrants have died since 1998 while attempting to make the dangerous journey to Europe, including at least 1,500 in 2011, the deadliest on record.

The blanket term “mixed migration” is used to describe all people such as these who travel through the same means, but for different reasons. Since the 1970’s, through a variety of joint activities including emergency relief on the ground to refugees, migrants and individuals particularly vulnerable in crisis situations around the globe, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) has been advocating for more consistent protection and humanitarian assistance for migrants in distress, regardless of their immigration status.

A key achievement of ICMC, as coordinator working closely with an international Civil Society Steering Committee for the United Nations High-level Dialogue (HLD) on International Migration and Development 2013, has been to place migrants in distress at the top of the agenda at the HLD “Informal Interactive Hearings”, scheduled to take place between civil society and governments at the UN in New York on 15 July.

Pope Francis is the first pontiff to visit the island and this will be his first trip outside Rome since he took office. Himself the son of Italians who emigrated to Argentina, he has expressed his solidarity for migrants, refugees and forcibly displaced people, as he has urged government leaders, legislators and the international community to find "effective initiatives and new approaches for safeguarding their dignity, improving their quality of life and for facing the challenges emerging from modern forms of persecution, oppression and slavery."

During his visit, he is also expected to meet with those who have survived the crossing and other refugees, and to encourage the local population and authorities of Lampedusa to keep helping people in dire need.

Migrants sleeping in makeshift tents encampments dotted around the island have overwhelmed Lampedusa’s regular population of about 6,000. In the warmer summer months, the number of boat people crossing the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic and other waters to Spain, Italy, Malta and Greece typically surge.

Click here to read< the homily< the Pope delivered earlier today.

--by Vanessa Matyas/lb

Photo credit © UNHCR / A. Rodríguez / July – October 2007