Dutch councils get €500m extra to help settle refugees

DutchNews, April 29, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The government has set aside an extra €500m to help approved refugees integrate into the Netherlands. 

The money will go to local authorities to fund language lessons, run employment projects and to help schools, the cabinet has agreed. Most of the money – €353m – comes from the foreign ministry and aid budgets. ‘We have to learn from the past. 

We have a shared interest and that is that integration is successful,’ home affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher said.

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"New Systems" - Feb 27, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Ex-SS Auschwitz guard, 94 tells court, 'I am truly sorry'

Yahoo – AFP, April 29, 2016

Former Auschwitz guard Reinhold Hanning is accused of complicity in the murders
 of tens of thousands of people at the Nazi concentration camp during World War II
(AFP Photo/Bernd Thissen)

Berlin (AFP) - A 94-year-old former SS guard on trial for complicity in 170,000 murders at Auschwitz broke his silence Friday for the first time since the war, telling victims: "I am truly sorry."

More than 70 years after the end of World War II, Reinhold Hanning admitted to a German court that he knew prisoners were being shot, gassed and cremated at the death camp in occupied Poland.

"I could see how the bodies were being transported here and there and then away. I could smell the burning. I knew that people were burning bodies," he said.

Survivors revisit the Auschwitz death

 camp in 2015, where over a million 

prisoners were killed during World War II 

(AFP Photo/Janek Skarzynski)

"I believe that every guard knew what was happening. This is regardless of the duty that one was carrying out.

"Of course some were closer to it than others. By close I mean close to the killings."

Hanning said he had been "silent all my life" about the atrocities he witnessed at the camp where more than one million European Jews died, and had never spoken a word about it to his wife, children or grandchildren.

"No one in my family knew that I worked at Auschwitz. I simply could not talk about it. I was ashamed," said the white-haired, bespectacled widower, who owned a dairy store after the war.

"I want to tell you that I deeply regret having listened to a criminal organisation that is responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, for the destruction of countless families, for the misery, distress and suffering on the part of victims and their relatives.

"I am ashamed that I let this injustice happen and have done nothing to prevent it.

"I apologise formally for my behaviour. I am truly sorry," he said.

Can't talk about it

Hanning stands accused of having watched over the selection of which prisoners were fit for labour, and which should be sent to gas chambers.

He is also deemed to have been aware of the regular mass shooting of inmates at the camp, as well as the systematic starvation of prisoners.

At the opening of his trial in February, one of the witnesses, Leon Schwarzbaum, 90, made a plea for him to tell the truth.

Auschwitz-survivor Leon Schwarzbaum (pictured) made an emotional plea 

for former Nazi guard Reinhold Hanning to explain the atrocities at the death 

camp, during a trial in the German town of Detmold, on April 29, 2016 

(AFP Photo/Bernd Thissen)

"We are almost the same age. We'll both face our highest judge soon," he told the defendant, urging him to explain the atrocities at Auschwitz.

In the statement that detailed how at 13 he joined Hitler Youth, and at 19 years old, the SS at the urging of a stepmother who was anxious to get him out of his father's house, Hanning said no one dared to speak of what they experienced while at Auschwitz.

"You saw what happened but could not talk about it with your comrades," he said, adding that at the camp, "I trusted no one."

"Very little was spoken. No one knew if someone would repeat what one said to someone else," he said.

He said he had applied for a transfer out of the camp, but failed on both tries.

"I have tried my whole life to block out this period. Auschwitz was a nightmare. I wish I had never been there," he said.

Former Auschwitz guard Reinhold Hanning (C), in court with his lawyers in Detmold, 

western Germany, on April 29, 2016 (AFP Photo/Bernd Thissen)

'Polished and calculated'

Christoph Heubner, executive vice president of the International Auschwitz Committee representing victims, told Bild newspaper however that Hanning's statement was "polished and calculated as if he had been a spectator at Auschwitz".

"This is not an admission of guilt, but a statement from the perspective of a spectator," he said.

Among the 6,500 former SS personnel at Auschwitz who survived the war, fewer than 50 have been convicted.

Hanning's trial came on the heels of a high-profile case last year against Oskar Groening, dubbed the "Bookkeeper of Auschwitz".

Groening was sentenced in July to four years in prison, even though he had previously been cleared by German authorities after lengthy criminal probes dating back to the 1970s.

But the legal foundation for prosecuting ex-Nazis changed in 2011 with the German conviction of former death camp guard John Demjanjuk, solely on the basis of his having worked at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland.

Another case is currently being heard by a German court, against former SS medic Hubert Zafke, 95, who is charged with at least 3,681 counts of complicity in killings.

That case has however been suspended twice due to the defendant's poor health, raising questions whether it can proceed.

Colonia Dignidad: No 'glorious chapter' for German diplomacy

Torture, slavery, child abuse: Germany's foreign minister met with victims of a German sect run in Chile for decades. At the same time, the government in Berlin is declassifying the Colonia Dignidad files.

Deutsche Welle, 27 April 2016

Human rights groups welcome as a "positive step" plans by the German government to make public files on the notorious Colonia Dignidad colony in Chile.

Files that would have remained sealed for another decade will be made available to journalists and researchers in the coming weeks, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. The documents detail how informed German diplomats were about what was going on in the colony from 1986 to 1996. The foreign ministry isn't responsible for what Paul Schäfer and his cronies did, but the German embassy denied the colony's residents the protection they would have needed. "I salute the victims of Colonia Dignidad," Steinmeier told a group of victims Tuesday in Berlin.

Wolfgang Kneese managed to flee
when he was 20

Steinmeier conceded that German diplomats for decades turned a blind eye to the human tragedy playing out before them, adding that embassy staff in Chile should have been able to see what was going on at the Colonia Dignidad commune. From the 60s to the 80s, German diplomats looked the other way, and "did too little to protect their citizens in this commune," he said.

Respect for the victims

The foreign ministry in Berlin has pledged that it will find out what role German diplomats played. "Transparency is imperative," Steinmeier told the victims, who had traveled from Chile to Berlin to hear just those words.

Colonia Dignidad was founded in 1961 by Paul Schäfer, a German lay preacher, former soldier and convicted pedophile who fled the country to Chile after World War II.

Today, victims estimate that over the course of 30 years, more than 30,000 boys were raped at the remote commune hidden behind security fences. Schäfer brutally suppressed and controlled his followers, including brainwashing, draconic punishments and enforcing a vow of secrecy. Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet used the German commune, which was situated about 350 kilometers south of the capital Santiago, as a torture camp, and hid weapons and poison gas on the premises.

A scene from the film Colonia

One of the few who managed to extricate himself from the sect's grip doesn't like to be reminded of the role the German embassy played. "When I left the colony, I was wary of the foreign ministry," Wolfgang Kneese said, adding that Paul Schäfer's system involved people who profited from Colonia Dignidad, who went along with the sect's well-oiled apparatus of repression, and who looked the other way.

Emotionally crippled

A feature film about Colonia Dignidad actually got the ball rolling.

"Colonia" by Florian Gallenberger aired in Germany last year after the director had put in five years of research. The film reminded the foreign ministry of this dark chapter of German diplomacy, Steinmeier said, adding that it goes to show how culture can "act as a trigger for politics."

The commune is the only home Anna
 Schnellenberger ever knew

Anna Schnellenkamp still lives on the premises of the former colony. She was surprised at how well the film depicts Schäfer's harsh rule. "But in truth, it was much worse," she admitted.

Fleeing sex abuse charges by Chilean authorities, Schäfer disappeared in 1997. Almost eight years later, he was found hiding in Argentina, sent back to Chile and sentenced to 33 years in jail for sexual abuse of children. He died in 2010 in a Chilean prison. Meanwhile, life at the colony continued as before.

Today, the commune with its roughly 130 residents calls itself Villa Baviera and tries to attract tourists with Bavarian music and Oktoberfest events.

Many of the original followers stayed on, in part because "no one had documents, no one had money," Schellenkamp said, adding another reason: two out of three are older than 65 years of age. Many of Schäfer's victims feel like emotional cripples, Wolfgang Kneese says. Some hope the German government will grant them psychological support, others demand compensation.

It's time "the burden is taken from our shoulders," Schnellenkamp said.

Traumatized victims, open questions

Many victims find hard to bear the thought that perpetrators have gotten away. Hartmut Hopp, a former colony deputy, fled to Germany in 2011 to avoid imprisonment in Chile, where he was sentenced to five years in jail for child sex abuse in 2005. It's surprising that people, like Hopp, "continue to live freely in Germany," Wolfgang Kneese said. Hopp lives in the western German town of Krefeld, and it remains unclear whether Germany will enforce the Chilean verdict, start new proceedings, or simply put the matter aside. The latter is almost unbearable to many victims.

It's also not clear what will happen to the sect's isolated premises in Chile. Turn it into a memorial, urges film director Florian Gallenberger, who visited the area many times. They have some tourism, but that's all, the director argues. Perhaps an upcoming visit by German President Joachim Gauck to Chile will help resolve matters.

Related Article:

Switzerland to compensate victims of centuries-old child labor practice

Switzerland to compensate victims of centuries-old child labor practice

Swiss politicians have passed a law to compensate former 'Verdingkinder.' Under the policy, which lasted until the early 1980s, officials took away children from poor families and forced them into hard physical labor.

Deutsche Welle, 27 April 2016

In an attempt to come to terms with one of the darkest chapters in Swiss history, the lower house of parliament has approved compensation for thousands of people who were separated from their families as children because the government considered their parents unfit to bring them up.

Nearly all members of the Nationalrat (pictured above) backed the project.

The bill was the result of an initiative started by entrepreneur Guido Fluri in 2014. "I'm proud of Switzerland," Fluri said in a statement broadcasted by Swiss channel SRF, adding that it was important to compensate the victims on time. Many were elderly and in very bad health, he added.

The Swiss government was planning to spend 300 million Francs ($308 million) for the 12,000 to 15,000 former "Verdingkinder" who were alive. Each would receive around 20,000 to 25,000 Francs as compensation.

The law still needed to be approved by the upper house of parliament.

'Children on hire'

"Verdingkinder," which literally means "children for hire" in German, was a policy practised in Switzerland from the 19th century until the early 1980s. Officials forcefully took away orphans, illegitimate children, children of alcoholics and boys and girls whose parents had separated or who were from socially weak families. Many villages also organized auctions, where children were sold to the highest bidder.

The juveniles were then given over to farmers or owners of small factories and forced to do physical work. They often fell victim to sexual and physical abuse.

According to historians, the "Verdingkinder" policy affected thousands of people. In the 1930s alone, 30,000 children were placed in foster families across the country.

In 2012, Swiss filmmaker Markus Imboden depicted the suffering of the children in his film "Verdingbub" or the "contract boy." The film narrates the story of a woman, who hires children to work on her farm. Life on the farm is hard for the young boys and girls, who barely get enough to eat, were beaten and sexually abused.

mg/jm (Reuters, epd, dpa)

Obama calls for strong, united Europe

Yahoo – AFP, Andrew Beatty, April 25, 2016

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks after touring the Hannover Messe
Trade Fair in Hanover, Germany, April 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Jim Watson)

Hanover (Germany) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea for European unity in the face of rising populism and scepticism Monday, warning this was a "defining moment" for the continent.

"A strong and united Europe is a necessity for the world," Obama said in the German city of Hanover, in a landmark speech that carried the tone of a blunt challenge to friends.

Visiting a region reeling from a migration crisis, economic stagnation and facing the prospect of Britain abandoning the European Union, Obama warned that "progress is not inevitable".

Contrasting the prosperity of Europe today with the wars and hardship of the last century, Obama called on Europeans reject the "us-versus-them" politics that has fuelled the rise of the far right in countries from Poland to France.

"Perhaps you need an outsider, somebody who is not European, to remind you of the magnitude of what you have achieved," he said, a day after the anti-immigration far-right triumphed in a presidential vote in Austria.

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both endorsed

 the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations between the EU and

US (AFP Photo/Odd Andersen)

Don't turn inward

Hours before he and Chancellor Angela Merkel were to hold talks with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy, Obama painted today's Europeans as heirs to the popular movements that ended the Cold War.

And he also recalled the devastating consequences of "intolerance and extreme nationalism" that drenched Europe in blood during the 20th century.

"In the last century, just twice in 30 years, the forces of empire and intolerance and extreme nationalism consumed this continent and cities like this one were largely reduced to rubble," Obama said.

"Tens of millions of men and women and children were killed."

While admitting there could be frustrations with European institutions, he argued that "turning inward" was not the answer to Europe's problems.

As rightwing populism gains ground in parts of the continent in response to growing Islamic radicalism, he urged Europe to remain open.

"I want you to remember that our countries are stronger, they're more secure and more successful when we integrate people of all backgrounds and faiths, and make them feel as one. And that includes our fellow citizens who are Muslim," he said.

On a visit to Britain ahead of his arrival in Germany, the US president had also waded into an increasingly-bitter debate over the UK's membership in the European Union, urging Britons to vote against leaving the bloc in a June referendum.

For much of Obama's seven years in the White House his relationship with Europe has been uneasy.

Obama began his presidency with Europeans revelling in Washington's more relaxed approach to foreign policy than under his predecessor George W. Bush.

Thousands marched through Hanover to protest against the proposed transatlantic

 trade deal (TTIP) amid fears it will erode protection for workers and consumers (AFP

 Photo/John Macdougall)

Pushing forward US-EU trade

But since then, Obama's star has dimmed, and the US president has become frustrated with Europe's inability to move quickly in response to the global recession or to the threat from jihadists.

In a mark of that frustration, Obama bluntly told his audience that Europe needs to do more to shoulder the collective security burden.

"Europe has sometimes been complacent about its own defence," Obama said, repeating a long-standing call for NATO allies to increase defence spending to at least two percent of economic output.

More than half a century after the end of World War II, much of the continent, including economic power Germany, remains firmly under the umbrella of security provided by the United States.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama attend the

 Hanover industrial Fair in Hanover, central Germany, on April 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Christian Charisius)

Obama stressed not only the need for European nations to work together, but to work with Washington to tackle a host of challenges, from Syria and Iraq to global trade and climate change.

And he said he would send up to 250 more special forces military trainers to Syria to help rebels fighting Islamic State jihadists.

His remarks came as Europe scrambles to try and limit the refugee flow into the bloc and the bloodshed in Syria.

As he arrived in Germany on Sunday, Obama made a strong pitch for US-EU trade.

"Angela and I agree that the United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations," said Obama of the vast EU-US trade agreement in the making which has run into strong public opposition.

He called for the agreement to be sealed before the end of the year, even though tens of thousands marched through Hanover on the eve of his visit to protest against the treaty amid fears it would erode protection for workers and consumers.

Both Obama and Merkel say the pact will provide a shot in the arm to Western economies.

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Business as usual in Brussels despite Dutch ‘no’ to Ukraine


"You Don’t Know How the Frog Jumps"–  Jan11, 2011 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Last week, I gave you a message about the potentials of 2011. And there were those in this room who attended. I'm going to repeat something I said there, for you need to hear it and it has to do with politics. It would seem intuitive to every single Human Being in the room that in order to accomplish what you do as Americans in Congress, you must have at least two parties. For that is the way it has always been - the red and the blue.

What if I told you that there will come a time when there will be no parties? You might then say, "Well, that's impossible, Kryon, because you're not Human and you don't know how funding works." You might say, "It has to be a party that creates the power to raise money for the ones who cannot, and then the funding is spread around and this is the way we work. If you didn't have parties, you'd have no funding. Nobody could advertise, and no one could get elected."

Oh, really?

Are you aware right now, that you have a president who was elected on the Internet? He figured it out. When everybody can talk to everyone, you have plenty of funding. A few dollars here, a few dollars there. You talk to millions at the same time, they talk to millions at the same time. It's a new paradigm of communication. The young people know all about it, and you can't stop it. Watch for more from this new paradigm.

It is worldwide communication, one person at a time. It doesn't matter how many laws you pass, and it doesn't matter what you decide about who is in charge of it, you can't stop it. It's out of the bag now, and the communities of the young are going to be communicating. This is how the politicians are going to be communicating to you, literally coming into your home in a holographic form perhaps, explaining their position one by one, without a party. Then you will elect them to your Congress without a party and they will sit in the chairs without a division and there will be no such thing as the "other side of the aisle."

And that, Human Being, is called unity and there is a paradigm that you cannot even imagine. And it's in the works. And then you'll have a Congress that works together and gets things done without the current duality.  ….”

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Human Nature is Changing

There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.

We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.

South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …”

Dutch journalist 'detained in Turkey' over Erdogan criticism

Ebru Umar, a columnist for the Dutch "Metro" newspaper, says she has been detained for publishing tweets critical of the Turkish president. This comes after a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Deutsche Welle, 24 April 2016

The detention occurred at Umar's home in the western Turkish resort town of Kusadasi late Saturday, according to a post on the journalist's Twitter account.

"Police at the door. No joke," she wrote.

Oké. Politie voor de deur timeline. Geen grap.

— Ebru Umar (@umarebru) April 23, 2016

In a second tweet, she said, "I'm not free, we're going to hospital" for a medical examination before being interrogated by prosecutors.

Umar, who is a well-known atheist and feminist of Turkish origin, had written an article in the "Metro" about a recent diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands, later tweeting extracts critical of Erdogan that led to her arrest.

The Dutch foreign ministry said in a tweet that it was in "close contact with" Umar and "local authorities."

In The Hague, Foreign Ministry spokesman Herman van Gelderen confirmed Umar had been detained but had few further details.

"We are aware of it, we are in contact and we're following the case very closely," he told the Associated Press news agency.

Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected to the post in August 2014, authorities have launched nearly 2,000 lawsuits against people accused of insulting the politician.

One such case is in Germany, where the government has given the green light to authorities to begin criminal proceedings against satirist Jan Böhmermann under a decades-old lese-majeste law that many say should have long since been abolished.

The 'Böhmermann Affair' has filled
headlines in Germany for weeks

Twitter and tattletales

Erdogan's apparent sensitivity to all criticism of his person or politics also seems evident in the affair about which Umar wrote in her report, which involved claims that the Turkish consulate had asked Turkish organizations in the Netherlands to forward social media posts and emails deemed insulting to Erdogan or Turkey itself.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would ask Ankara to clarify the call, saying it was unclear what purpose the Turkish government hoped to achieve.

The Turkish consulate has said that the email in question had been sent by a consular official who had used an "unfortunate choice of words."

The Netherlands has a similar law on insulting representatives of foreign states to that in Germany, but Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur told lawmakers on Wednesday that he wanted to jettison it.

Umar's detention came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials were in Turkey to bolster an agreement that aims to slow down the flow of migrants to Europe. The EU leaders have been criticized for failing to speak out against the increasing lack of freedom of speech in the country for fear of damaging the controversial deal.

tj/se (AFP, AP)

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European Council President Praises Indonesia’s Democracy and Religious Tolerance

Jakarta Globe, Eko Prasetyo, April 22, 2016

President Joko Widodo meets with European Council President Donald Tusk
in Brussels, Thursday (21/04). (State Palace Press Photo/Laily)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo met with European Council President Donald Tusk at the Europa building, seat of the European Council, in Brussels, an official statement said on Thursday (21/04).

In the meeting, Joko said Indonesia is a "living laboratory" where Islam, democracy and religious tolerance exist side by side.

Tusk in response praised the way Indonesia has been fostering democracy, human rights and religious tolerance, often under difficult circumstances, and said the council will continue its interfaith exchange program with Indonesia.

The European Council also said it will look at the proposal for a visa waiver program for Indonesian citizens, as soon as the security situation in Europe improves.

The Indonesian president had earlier met with European Parliament President Martin Schulz, and conducted a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker.

Pope brings 12 Syrian refugees to Rome after visit to migrant hotspot

Yahoo – AFP, Fanny Carrier with Odile Duperry in Lesbos, April 16, 2016

The pope took three Muslim Syrian families whose homes have been bombed
back with him to the Vatican from lesbos (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

Rome (AFP) - Declaring "we are all migrants," Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday with a message of hope for those seeking asylum in Europe and a stinging rebuke for those who closed their hearts to the desperate.

His one-day trip to Europe's migration hotspot culminated dramatically when three Syrian refugee families, all Muslim, returned with the pontiff to Rome, where they will be housed by the Vatican.

The pope told reporters that his gesture was "a drop in the ocean" but hoped that afterwards, "the ocean will never be the same again".

"All refugees are children of God," he said aboard the papal plane on its flight back to Rome.

Pope Francis welcomes a group of Syrian refugees after landing at Ciampino airport

 in Rome following a visit at the Moria refugee camp on April 16, 2016 in the Greek

island of Lesbos (AFP Photo/Filippo Monteforte)

The departure of the 12 refugees was the climax of an emotional visit that saw migrants kneeling in tears before the 79-year-old Roman Catholic leader.

"You are not alone... do not lose hope," the pope, who was accompanied by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos, the head of the Church of Greece, said at the Moria registration centre, where around 3,000 migrants are being held.

The vast majority have requested asylum but will likely be deported under a controversial agreement reached last month to tackle Europe's refugee crisis by sending all irregular migrants who land in Greece back to Turkey.

'Save us, Papa'

As the pope was escorted through Moria to meet a select number of migrants, one man broke into tears as he knelt at the pontiff's feet, requesting his blessing.

Another woman who slipped past security to approach the pontiff also broke down in tears as he paused to listen to her.

Other migrants gathered outside held hand-made signs that read "We want freedom", "Let my people go" and "Papa cherche a nous sauver" ("Pope, try to save us").

Pope Francis, center, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual

 leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, left, and Archbishop of Athens and All 

Greece Ieronymos II, head of the Church of Greece, meet migrants at the Moria

 refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, Saturday April 16, 2016. (AP

Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A group of small children presented the pope with a dozen drawings.

Lesbos is one of the first ports of call in the EU for the hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled war, poverty and persecution in the Middle East and Asia across the Aegean Sea via nearby Turkey in the past year.

The religious leaders said a prayer at Lesbos harbour in memory of the hundreds of migrants who have drowned during the voyage in overcrowded smuggler boats.

"Merciful God... though many of their graves bear no name, to you each one is known, loved and cherished," the pope said.

Earlier they signed a declaration calling on the international community to "respond with courage" to the humanitarian crisis and calling on religious communities to step up efforts to assist refugees.

The pope stressed that migrants were not numbers but people with "faces, names and individual stories" who were preyed on by "unscrupulous thugs" and called for "resolute" efforts to clamp down on arms trafficking.

"The world will be judged by the way it has treated you. And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from," Bartholomew said.

The pope took three Muslim Syrian families whose homes have been bombed 

back with him to the Vatican from lesbos (AFP Photo/Jochen Gebauer, AFP)

'Worst humanitarian disaster'

The refugee influx has sparked fierce disagreements between EU members and brought the bloc's system of open borders to the brink of collapse.

Lesbos has become the focus of criticism of the EU's deal with Turkey to take back migrants who travel to the Greek islands, in return for billions in EU cash.

All new arrivals on the island are being held at Moria while they wait to be processed to determine whether they can legitimately claim asylum or should be returned as "economic migrants". Rights groups have accused Greece of turning the centre into a detention camp.

Migrant arrivals in Greece have drastically fallen since the agreement took effect while the number of deaths among people making the perilous crossing has also dropped.

Another 125 arrived via the Aegean in the last 24 hours, including 46 on Lesbos, the Greek government said on Saturday.

The refugee families to be taken in by the Vatican, including six children, will be initially cared for by the community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, the Holy See said.

They come from Damascus and Deir Azzor, an area currently occupied by jihadists, and lost their homes to bombings, it said.

The pope said that all 12 had papers which were in order and that he had played no part in their selection.

"There were two Christian families but their paperwork wasn't ready. (Religion) was not grounds for exemption. All refugees are children of God."

Francis had framed his visit as an exercise in raising awareness of the "worst humanitarian disaster since the Second World War".

The former Jesuit priest has repeatedly said he does not accept the EU's distinction between those fleeing conflicts, like the war in Syria, and those fleeing poverty and starvation created by global economic inequalities.

Over one million people crossed clandestinely from Turkey to Greece in 2015 and some 150,000 have made the trip since the start of this year.

Related Articles:

Pope Francis washes the feet of refugees

EU, Turkey strike 'historic' deal to send back migrants

A key part of the agreement will take effect from Sunday midnight when all 

migrants arriving on the Greek islands will be designated for return to Turkey 

(AFP Photo/Simon MALFATTO, Jean Michel CORNU)

"New Systems" - Feb 27, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."