The EU bishops call on “the European Union and its Member States to support Poland in addressing this humanitarian challenge at its border, as well as other EU countries in the region that may face a similar scenario. Taking advantage and instrumentalising the despair of migrants and asylum seekers have severe and harming human consequences and must be prevented.” The appeal is contained in a statement released on Thursday by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), in the context of the humanitarian situation of migrants and asylum seekers at the Polish-Belarusian border, echoing the words of the president of the European bishops (CCEE), Msgr. Gintaras Linas Grušas, in an interview published in the morning by SIR. “The Bishops of the European Union – reads the statement – grieve for the loss of lives that this tragedy has already caused, and pray for the victims and their families. We reiterate that every human being must be treated in a humane way. Migrants and asylum seekers deserve full respect of their dignity and fundamental rights, no matter their legal status. We all must show our concrete support to those families and individuals in need, either migrating or looking for asylum – in particular children, elderly, and other persons in a situation of vulnerability.” In this regard, COMECE echoes the words of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, expressed on various occasions over the last months, calling for “primarily adopting a humanitarian approach to the current crisis.” COMECE expressed gratitude to the Catholic Church in Poland and other institutions and people of good will, “for their material and spiritual support” to migrants and asylum seekers. With a firm appeal to Europe: “We can’t allow people dying at our borders. All efforts to avoid these tragedies should be made, as well as mitigating the suffering of people who left their countries due to war, violence, or lack of social and economic perspectives.” In their statement, the EU bishops equally mention the political situation in Belarus: “COMECE shares the concerns and solicitude of Pope Francis for the suffering people in Belarus, and calls for the prevalence of justice, encouraging the EU and the international community to promote, through dialogue, a peaceful resolution of the ongoing tensions, whilerespecting human dignity and international law.”