Answering to a spanish journalist who asked about immigration during his flight back to Rome, the Pope responded in a way that is very much aligned with the Schiller Institute’s proposal “Development Drive Means Billions of New Jobs, No Refugees, No War".
“The issue of immigration is very complex and affects many countries—not just Spain, not just Europe, or the United States; it is a global phenomenon! That is why my answer begins with a question: What is the Global North doing to help the Global South or those countries where young people today cannot find a future and, for that reason, dream of going north? Everyone wants to go north, but often the North has no answers on how to offer them opportunities. Many suffer.
The issue of human trafficking is also part of migration. Personally, I believe that a state has the right to establish rules at its borders. I’m not saying that everyone should be allowed in without order, sometimes creating situations in the places they go that are even more unjust than the ones they left behind. But, having said that, I ask myself: what are we doing in the richest countries to change the situation in the poorest countries? Why can’t we try—through both government aid and investments from wealthy corporations and multinationals—to change the situation in countries like the ones we’ve visited on this trip? Many people view Africa as a place to go and extract minerals, to take its resources for the benefit of others in other countries. Perhaps on a global level we should work harder to promote greater justice, equality, and the development of these African countries, so that their people do not feel the need to emigrate to other countries, to Spain, etc. And the other point I’d like to address is that, in any case, they are human beings, and we must treat human beings humanely—not treat them, as is often the case, worse than animals. There is a major challenge here: a country may claim it cannot take in any more people, but when they arrive, they are human beings and deserve the respect due to every human being because of their dignity.