UN welcomes Pope's solidarity with refugees

The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed the solidarity of Pope Francis with the world's ‎refugees and migrants when he visited them in the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday, and offered a ‎home to three Syrian families bringing them along with him to Rome.

"The Pope's latest gesture is a ‎powerful demonstration of solidarity. It must inspire governments and societies in a world where the ‎desperate plight of record numbers of forcibly displaced is too often met by barriers, rejection and ‎fear," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). ‎The 12 Syrians included three couples and six children aged 4 to 14 years. Two families are from ‎the capital, Damascus, and one from the city of Deir ez-Zor.‎

War, conflict and persecution have forced around 60 million people worldwide to run for their lives, the ‎largest number since World War II. Nearly 20 million of these are refugees and more than half are ‎children. The conflict in Syria is the main driver of this global crisis, forcing more than 4.8 million ‎Syrians to become refugees in its neighbouring countries alone, with more seeking safety further afield.‎

Source: UN