Jesuit Chief: No Country Has the Right to Turn Away Migrants

The superior general of the Jesuits declared this week that no country has the right to turn away migrants, claiming the land belongs to everyone.

“The challenge for a country that receives migrants is not only reception, but integration, which means receiving the contribution that immigrants bring,” said Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa Abascal in an interview with Tempi.it.

“They come to make a contribution, which is greater than what they receive from the host country,” he claimed, seemingly without evidence.

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“In Europe we must recognize the contribution that migrants make to the societies that receive them and thank them for it,” the Jesuit added.

Then, in one of his more controversial claims, Father Sosa said that nations have no right to enforce their borders because in the end, the land belongs to everyone.

“Those who live in a given territory have no right to turn away migrants,” he said, “because they have no absolute right to that territory. They do not own it; the goods of the land are for everyone.”

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Turning to the issue of modern political movements, Father Sosa said that populism is dangerous, alleging it is an authoritarian ideology.

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