Pope Francis Visits the Greek Island of Lesbos and has taken 12 Syrian migrants back with him to the Vatican

Pope Francis has taken 12 Syrian migrants back with him to the Vatican after visiting a camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.The 12 Syrian migrants travelled on the same plane as Pope Francis

The three families, including six children, are all Muslim and had their homes bombed during the Syrian war.

The Vatican said  in a statement that Pope Francis wanted to "make a gesture of welcome'' to the refugees.

Pope Francis greeted the migrant group as they disembarked  

 

Thousands of migrants are now stuck on Lesbos after last month's EU-Turkey deal to try to ease the flow.

All of those leaving with the Pope were already living on Lesbos before the deal was implemented, the Vatican said.

They were reportedly selected from lots drawn, and will be looked after initially by the Sant'Egidio community, known for their charity work.

Who are the 12 Syrians?

One family is made up of two engineers, Hasan and Nour, and their two-year-old son. They came from Damascus and lived in Zabadani, an area near the Lebanese border that has been besieged by regime forces and heavily bombed. They fled to Turkey and took a boat to the Lesbos.
Ramy, a teacher, and Suhila, a tailor, are both in their 50s and come from Deir al-Zour, near the Iraqi border - a city attacked by so-called Islamic State. The couple arrived in Greece with their three children in February via Turkey.
Osama and Wafa come from the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. Wafa says the youngest of their two children still wakes up every night - and even stopped speaking for a time.
All had their homes destroyed by bombing, according to the Vatican.

Note

Under the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants arriving illegally on the Greek islands from Turkey after March 20,2016 will be deported unless they successfully claim for asylum.

In return, for every Syrian returned to Turkey, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey.

In July 2013, Pope Francis's first trip outside Rome after being elected pontiff was to Lampedusa,the tiny Italian Island off the coast of Libya that - like Lesbos - was becoming a symbol of the incipient migrant crisis