By: Philip Pullella and Lefteris Papadimas
Don't exploit migrants for politics, pope says on refugee island
Pope Francis condemned the exploitation of migrants for political purposes on Sunday during a visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, lamenting that Europe had entered "an era of walls and barbed wire".
Francis, who was to have been driven straight to the podium, instead walked through the camp, stopping to greet dozens of refugees and giving a high five hand greeting to a young African boy.
Francis, who first visited one of the main entry points for migrants in 2016 and took 12 Syrian refugees back to Italy with him, returned briefly as part of his five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece to meet with refugees at the Mavrovouni camp, which holds about 2,300 people.
He lamented that "little has changed with regard to the issue of migration" since his last visit five years ago.