“History will condemn leaders who ignored migrant deaths.” Tough message from Pope Leo, transmitted from the “dock of shame”

“You are not just numbers or files. You are people who left behind their families and homes. You have dreams that no one has the right to despise,” the pope said in Gran Canaria's Arguineguin Port, according to Reuters.

Pope Leo appealed to leaders around the world on Thursday to treat migrants more humanely and warned during a visit to Spain's Canary Islands that history will condemn those who allow people fleeing war or poverty to suffer.

The Canary Islands are one of the hotspots of migration to Europe.

In a “call to conscience” for politicians, the first American pope said that “human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when it crosses a border.”

“We can't get used to counting the dead,” the pope said in Gran Canaria's Arguineguin Port, dubbed the “Dock of Shame” by aid organizations after around 1,000 migrants were stranded there in squalid conditions in the early months of the COVID pandemic.

“May history not accuse us of turning the pain of those who suffer into a common sight along our shores,” he continued, in a speech to thousands of people gathered near a monument dedicated to migrants who died at sea.

“Sooner or later, it will be known whether we have protected life or succumbed to indifference,” he said.

“It's a number that terrifies me and you can't forget”

Leo recently drew the ire of US President Donald Trump after he harshly criticized his harsh, anti-immigration policies.

The pope is visiting the archipelago off Africa's west coast as the centerpiece of a week-long tour of Spain, where he will meet about 1,000 migrants on Friday.

The islands are a destination for migrants attempting the perilous journey across Atlantic waters, often in small, makeshift and overcrowded boats.

At Thursday's port meeting with NGOs and charities that help migrants, the Pope heard testimonies from volunteers and others, including a rescue ship captain who said that in 18 years, he and his colleagues had saved about 20,000 migrants.

“It's a number that terrifies me and you can't forget,” said the captain, Tito Villarmea. “I wish we didn't have to save anybody,” he said.

“You are not just numbers or files”

The Pope also heard testimony read on behalf of a Nigerian woman who recounted her experience of being trafficked and sexually abused while trying to enter Europe for a better life.

“I lived in conditions I wouldn't wish on anyone,” she said.

Leo told the woman that she was a blessing from God and that she deserved happiness.

“Dear migrants, before I tell you anything else, I want to bow before your dignity,” the pope said.

“You are not just numbers or files. You are people who left behind their families and homes. You have dreams that no one has the right to despise,” he said.

More than 3,000 people died in 2025 trying to reach the Canaries

Located more than 1,000 km from mainland Spain, the Canary Islands received a record 46,843 irregular migrants in 2024, compared to fewer than 1,000 in 2015, according to official data.

More than 3,000 people died in 2025 trying to reach the islands, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras.

Leo told the Spanish parliament on Monday that the refusal to give aid to migrants around the world was testing the “ethical foundation of the international order”.

On Thursday, he called for “legal and safe pathways” to immigration, international cooperation in combating people-trafficking and funds to rescue migrants in danger at sea.

The world must do more to eradicate the poverty, wars and corruption that force migrants from their homes, he said.

“It is not enough to manage arrivals, distribute statistics, strengthen borders or mourn deaths after they have occurred,” the pontiff said.

Spain's position

Juan Carlos Lorenzo, coordinator of the Spanish Commission for Refugees in the Canary Islands, told Reuters that Leo's visit represented an “important milestone”.

“This will serve as a powerful affirmation of the defense of human rights, the respect and dignity that all people deserve, regardless of their origin,” Lorenzo said.

Unlike most European countries, Spain has taken a more open stance towards migrants, introducing a residency program for more than half a million undocumented people.

But the initiative has drawn criticism from conservative and far-right leaders, and the country is struggling with the slow pace of granting legal status to thousands of people in an uncertain situation.