Pope Francis has warned that ISIS militants could use Europe's ongoing refugee crisis to infiltrate the continent, during an interview with Portuguese radio station Radio Renascença.
However, the pope also reiterated his calls for each Catholic institution in Europe to take in a refugee family, saying in the same interview that refugees must be welcomed "because this is a commandment from the Bible."
ISIS currently has a stronghold in the central Libyan city of Sirte, the hometown of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The group previously held control of the Libyan coastal town of Derna, which is approximately 837 km (520 miles) from the southern tip of Italy across the Mediterranean Sea, but were driven out in June by local Islamist fighters.
Speaking about the differing reactions in Europe to the refugee crisis, Francis said, "It's true, I recognize that, nowadays border safety conditions are not what they once were. The truth is just 400 kilometres (249 miles) from Sicily there is an incredibly cruel terrorist group. So there is a danger of infiltration, this is true," he said, referring to ISIS's presence in Libya.
The pope also admitted that "nobody said Rome would be immune to this threat." ISIS have previously threatened to conquer Rome and the Vatican head of security admitted earlier this year that ISIS posed a threat to Francis, though no formal plans of attacks had been discovered.
The pope called the current crisis "the tip of an iceberg" and insisted that the main issues which have created so many refugees—which he described as primarily "a bad and unjust socioeconomic system"—must be addressed.
Elsewhere, the Lebanese education minister warned British Prime Minister David Cameron that some of the Syrian refugees entering Europe could be ISIS militants in disguise, during the Cameron's visit to a Lebanese camp earlier this week.
The Independent newspaper reported that Elias Bou Saab said that his "gut feeling" was that ISIS was facilitating the movement of jihadists amongst refugees. "You may have, let's say, 2 percent that are radicals," said Saab, speaking about how many militants he thought could be travelling to Europe via Turkey and Greece. He added that in the Lebanese camps, "you find two percent to three percent of them [are ISIS militants]." However, Saab admitted he had no hard evidence to support his claims.
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About the writer
Conor is a staff writer for Newsweek covering Africa, with a focus on Nigeria, security and conflict.
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