Canary Islands President delivers migrants' letters to Pope Francis

By Salvatore Cernuzio 

"I am no one to ask anything of His Holiness, but if he thought it opportune and convenient, he could devote a few words of encouragement to the African people, since given the privileged position he occupies, he would be heard all over the world, a great megaphone to bring the positions between Africa and Europe closer together culturally speaking, foster empathy, and spread it."

Mamadou Malal Diallo wrote this appeal in a letter to the Pope to ask him to be a voice for him and other African immigrants who have landed in the Canary Islands.

The text was delivered to Pope Francis on Monday morning by the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo Batlle, who was received in audience at the Apostolic Palace.

With him were Vice President Manuel Domínguez González and three bishops, Bernardo Álvarez, José Mazuelos, and Cristóbal Déniz, representing the Church in the Canary Islands, which is heavily involved in the migration emergency through reception centers and the distribution of food and clothing.

Migrants' messages

The audience lasted about 40 minutes and, at the end, two letters were placed in the hands of the Pontiff: one from Mamadou, a Guinean.

In the letter, he tells the story of his arrival in 2008, the language barrier, the culture shock, and "the lack of opportunities that exist for people like me," as well as his current work as a cultural mediator and interpreter.

The second letter came from a group of African migrants, some of whom are minors, residing in El Hierro, the “so-called” Isla del Meridiano (island of the Meridian). That is, the smallest island in the entire archipelago, which has become a point of arrival directly sought by those facing the dangerous "Atlantic Route" and which on its shores sees a continuous flow of landings: more than 1,100 in October, in just 48 hours, and 650 last Saturday.

The President and Vice-President in St Peter's Square after meeting the Pope

'Swamped' but willing to welcome

This is a real drama for a land and people who say they are 'swamped' but still willing to show welcome and solidarity toward people fleeing hunger, thirst, and death.

The migrants themselves say this in the letter in telling of how they had to leave home and their family, whom they "miss very much" ("It was not easy to leave them, but we are in danger there, we cannot study, there is no work to feed the family, it is very difficult to continue there without our hearts stopping believing in the opportunity," they state).

Then, in capital letters they write "THANK YOU FROM THE HEART" to all the people of El Hierro "who support us, help us, and encourage us to continue fighting to achieve our dreams. We want to be able to study and then, when we are older, work to help our families."

Cooperation and development for Africa:

The President, after his meeting with the Pope, told a group of journalists in St. Peter’s Square that during his meeting with the Pope he reported all this to him.

The Holy Father was attentive, interested, and strongly concerned about the situation.

"The vice president (Manuel Domínguez González) and I were able to talk about the fact that the problem of migration from Africa can be solved in Africa, that we need policies of cooperation and development," the president explained, saying that never will "humanity" be forgotten, namely the awareness "that there are people trying to escape hunger, death and misery, and that the people of the Canary Islands were once migrants as well."

The Pope's support

For his part, Pope Francis, who, in a letter dated 20 November, thanked the Canary Island bishops and all the inhabitants "for opening the doors of your hearts to those who suffer," not only acknowledged the solidarity of the Canary Island people, their commitment to the weakest and most disadvantaged, but also told us that he is praying for the problem to be solved.

Both from the point of view of the flow of people venturing into the Atlantic Route, which is "highly deadly," and from the point of view of supporting reception. "We are talking about 40,000 people arriving on our shores in 2023, 70 percent of all immigrants arriving in Spain. Every day, 16 people die trying to find a better future," Clavijo stressed.

Working together

"Alone we are not able to handle a situation like this," echoes Vice President Domínguez. "We are extremely saturated; we are doing everything we can to assist them, there is solidarity but we are doing everything we can."

The hope of the islands' leaders is that today's visit to the Pope can "help European institutions, the Spanish government and other European countries become aware of the entity of Africa, a continent that with drought, wars, political instability, is a problem that either we work seriously in cooperation or it will continue for a long time," Clavijo says.

Pope Francis with the President

The plight of unaccompanied minors

Pope Francis himself, as reported by his guests to reporters, "conveyed to us that it is essential and necessary to be aware that development policies must be applied in Africa to prevent people from having to flee in search of a better future. He will pray for this and we will be eternally grateful."

The Pope  - who has always asked not to close doors but, at the same time, to assess the sustainability of each landing country - "was well aware of what we were undergoing in our region" about the issue of unaccompanied minors.

This is one of the most difficult issues in the Canary Islands at the moment, given the growing number that "makes it almost impossible to guarantee their rights to integration, childhood and life projects." "It was a great surprise that the Pope was so attentive to an issue as particular as ours."

Invitation to visit the archipelago

Amid greetings, blessings, and gifts—among which a papal bull from 1462 authorising the bishop of the Canary Islands to excommunicate anyone who enslaved the aborigines, and a package of sweets from La Laguna—the president and vice president did not fail to invite the pontiff to stop by the archipelago: "We invited him and I would like him to come. I also asked the bishops to invite him."