Europe’s migrant crisis dominates pope’s Cyprus-Greece trip

By NICOLE WINFIELD and MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Pope Francis has started a trip to Cyprus, drawing fresh attention to the plight of migrants on Europe’s borders. The eastern Mediterranean island nation has seen such a spike in migrant arrivals this year that it has formally asked the European Commission to let it stop processing asylum claims altogether. Francis is expected to raise the migration question as well as Cyprus’ nearly half-century division, after arriving in Nicosia Thursday on the first leg of his five-day trip. The visit will also take him to Greece, and back to Lesbos where in 2016 he made headlines when he brought a dozen Syrian refugees home with him from a refugee camp on the Greek island.