Europe's migrant crisis dominates pope's Cyprus-Greece trip

Pope Francis’ trip to Cyprus and Greece this weekend is drawing fresh attention to the plight of migrants on Europe’s borders

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis’ trip to Cyprus and Greece is drawing new attention to the plight of migrants on Europe’s borders and the disconnect between Francis’ Gospel-driven call for countries to welcome and integrate them and front-line governments that are increasingly unwilling or unable to let them in.

The eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus has seen such a spike in migrant arrivals this year — a 38% increase in the first 10 months compared to all of last year — that it has formally asked the European Commission to let it stop processing asylum claims altogether.

Francis is expected to raise the migration question — and Cyprus’ nearly half-century division — when he arrives in Nicosia on Thursday on the first leg of his five-day trip. The visit will also take him back to Lesbos, where in 2016 he made headlines when he brought a dozen Syrian migrants home with him from a refugee camp on the Greek island.

Francis is arranging a similar transfer this time around: Around 50 migrants in Cyprus have been identified for transfer to Italy, though they won't join him on the plane home but will be resettled in coming weeks, Cypriot officials say. And the Vatican hasn’t ruled out that some more migrants from Lesbos might be relocated to Italy as well following Francis’ visit.