Pope Francis has made an appeal for the world to be more welcoming to refugees fleeing violence. He spoke one day after residents in the Italian town of Goro formed a blockade to prevent the arrival of 12 migrant women, including one who was pregnant.

Pope Francis: “In some parts of the world, walls and barriers are coming up. It seems sometimes that the silent work of the many men and women who, in diverse ways, are doing their utmost to help and assist refugees and migrants is obscured by the noise of others who are giving a voice to an instinctive egoism. But closing up is not the solution; in fact, it ends up helping criminal trafficking. The only solution is that of solidarity. Solidarity.”