If Pope Francis has been consistent about anything, it is his stance on immigration. In his third and last of the three-day visit to Hungary, the Holy Father bravely spoke at Mass about the need to be “open doors”. Inspired by the gospel of St. John (10:1-10) during the fourth Sunday of Easter also known as the good shepherd or vocation Sunday, the 86-year-old bishop of Rome focused on the aspect of Jesus as the “door that lets the flock in and out and find pasture.”
Closed doors
In a country where the Prime Minister, Victor Orban is known for frowning at the idea of “open immigration,” with fears that migration threatens Christian culture in Europe, the head of the catholic church said “it is sad and painful to see closed doors. The closed doors of our selfishness regarding others; the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer.” Addressing himself to everyone including the bishops about his concern on closed doors, “I say this also to our lay brothers and sisters, to catechists and pastoral workers, to those with political and social responsibilities, and to those who simply go about their daily lives, which at times are not easy, the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor. Closed doors also within our ecclesial communities: doors closed to other people, closed to the world, closed to those who are “irregular”, closed to those who long for God’s forgiveness.”
Open doors
Speaking to some 50,000 people who attended the Mass, according to the local authorities, more than 30,000 of them in the square, on a brilliantly sunny spring morning, the Pontiff appealed to Hungary to “open those doors!” in the likeness of Jesus who is “an open door: a door that is never shut in anyone’s face, a door that enables everyone to enter and experience the beauty of the Lord’s love and forgiveness.”
On Saturday, Pope Francis thanked Hungarians for welcoming Ukrainian refugees and urged them to help anyone in need, as he called for a culture of charity. He praised Hungary’s Catholic Church for providing aid to people fleeing war and urged continued charity towards any who need help.
The first Jesuit Pope called for “openness and inclusivity,” a path that he said would “help Hungary to grow in fraternity, which is the path of peace.”
Unwavering commitment to justice
On 31st March 2019, Pope Francis aboard the plane returning from Morocco in response to a question about migration in general and about the U.S. said that political leaders who want walls and other barriers to keep migrants out “will end up becoming prisoners of the walls they build”.
The Pope is not ignorant about the challenges that different governments must go through “I realize that with this problem (of migration), a government has a hot potato in its hands, but it must be resolved differently, humanely, not with razor wire,” the Argentine-born pope said on the plane.
In 2022, the Italian campaigns leading to presidential general elections were characterized by the theme of migration. Even though the anti-immigration rightwing coalition was geared to win the elections, Pope Francis urged Italians to help migrants.
Speaking at the end of an open-air mass in the southern Italian city of Matera, the pope recalled that Sunday 25th September coincided with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. “Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated,” he told the assembled faithful.
“Let us renew our commitment to building the future in accordance with God’s plan: a future in which migrants and refugees may live in peace and with dignity.”
Giorgia Meloni, is the country’s first far-right leader since Mussolini who once said Italians needed to “repatriate the migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them”.
That summer, Meloni and Matteo Salvini, a former interior minister who made high-profile moves to block the arrival of asylum seekers at Italian ports, rallied against what they described as fake refugees and portrayed the arrival of people seeking asylum in Italy as an “invasion”.
In 2021 while returning from a visit to Lesbos, the Greek island at the center of Europe’s refugee crisis, Pope Francis attacked Europe, citing its indifference and cynical disregard while people continue to die during sea crossings.
On 17th of June 2015, during his general audience message, Pope Francis called for respect for migrants and suggested that "people and institutions" who close doors to them should seek forgiveness from God.
Reception, protection, promotion, and integration
Francis has long been an advocate for migrants - he kicked off his pontificate in 2013 by visiting the Italian island of Lampedusa; migrants were using it as a crossing point to enter Europe. While praying by the sea, he said, "Who wept for the death of these brothers and sisters? Who cried for those people who were on those boats? For those mothers who carried their children? For those men who wanted something to support their own families? We are in a society that has forgotten the experience of crying, of "suffering with". Globalization has killed our ability to cry."
On February 21, 2017, the pope explained that the response to the migration crisis should "revolve around four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate." He invited us to "reappropriate the value of fraternity," recalling that "the presence of the other...does not threaten, but questions, reaffirms and enriches our individual identity." - A small group of individuals cannot control the resources of half the world when entire people and peoples can only have the right to pick up the crumbs. - Helping migrants is "a duty of justice, civilization and solidarity". The question "Where is your brother?", "is not a question addressed to others, it is a question addressed to me, to you, to each of us".
In a publicized controversy, Francis and Trump traded barbs - Francis declaring that anyone who wants to build walls "is not a Christian."
"I invite you all to ask forgiveness for the persons and the institutions who close the door to these people who are seeking a family, who are seeking to be protected," he said in unscripted remarks delivered in a somber voice.
Divided opinions
In 2021, according to Eurostat, 2.3 million immigrants arrived in the EU from non-EU countries. To compare, in 2020 there were, respectively, an estimated 1.9 million immigrants to the EU from non-EU countries.
In 2018, the Pew Research Center survey, indicated that the majorities of publics in top migrant destination countries say immigrants strengthen their countries, of 18 countries that host half of the world’s migrants.
In 10 of the countries surveyed, majorities view immigrants as a strength rather than a burden. Among them are some of the largest migrants receiving countries in the world: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Australia (each hosting more than 7 million immigrants in 2017).
By contrast, majorities in five countries surveyed – Hungary, Greece, South Africa, Russia, and Israel – see immigrants as a burden to their countries. Except for Russia, these countries each have fewer than 5 million immigrants.
Meanwhile, public opinion on the impact of immigrants is divided in the Netherlands. In Italy and Poland, more say immigrants are a burden, while substantial shares in these countries do not lean one way or the other (31% and 20% respectively).
Migration and human rights
While pope Francis calls for "open doors," countries are looking for solutions to curb immigration and illegal immigration for that matter. The first thing to know is that migration is not a problem to be solved; in fact, it is a powerful driver of sustainable development, for migrants and their communities. It brings significant benefits in the form of skills, strengthening the labor force, investment, and cultural diversity, among others.
As much as people have a human right to immigrate to other states, the human right to immigrate is not absolute.
In their book Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership Sarah Fine & Lea Ypi argue that like the other human freedom rights upon which it is based, the human right to immigrate can be restricted in certain circumstances. Outside these circumstances, however, immigration restrictions are unjust. The idea of a human right to immigrate is not a demand for "open borders". Rather it is a demand that basic liberties be awarded the same level of protection when people seek to exercise them across borders and within borders.
What the IOM proposes
As a solution to immigration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recommends that countries should promote stability, education and employment opportunities and reduce the drivers of forced migration by promoting resilience, thereby enabling individuals to make the choice between staying or migrating.
The collection, analysis and use of credible data and information on, among other things, demographics, cross-border movements, internal displacement, diasporas, labor markets, seasonal trends, education, and health is essential to create policies based on facts, that weighs the benefits and risks of migration.
Regional cooperation can help minimize the negative consequences of migration and preserve its integrity. It can also contribute to regional and global development goals by improving human capital through sustainable development and ensuring longer-term economic growth.
Migration has the potential to bring positive socioeconomic outcomes for both society and migrants. For countries to reap these benefits, their policies and practices need to advance the socioeconomic wellbeing of migrants and society, while adhering to adherence to international standards that respect, protect, and fulfil the human rights of individuals within a state’s territory without discrimination based on nationality, race, gender, religion, or migration status.
If proper structures are put in place, we can almost agree with Barack Obama when he pronounced his farewell speech on January 10, 2017, saying, “Today’s stereotypes about immigrants were said almost verbatim about the Irish, Italians and Poles. The United States has not been weakened by these people”.
By Dominic Wabwireh
