Pope Leo XIV criticises migrant clampdowns, big pharma

Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV repeated his criticism Thursday of "ever more inhuman" measures used to stop illegal immigration, defending sea rescues the day after a deadly shipwreck in the Mediterranean.

In a wide-ranging speech to grassroots organisations, the US-born pope also criticised the pharmaceutical industry and warned of the damage wrought by the global race for critical minerals.

On migration, the pope said states had a right to protect their borders and a "moral obligation to provide refuge.

"With the abuse of vulnerable migrants, we are witnessing, not the legitimate exercise of national sovereignty, but rather grave crimes committed or tolerated by the state," he said, according to a speech published by the Vatican.

"Ever more inhuman measures are being adopted -- even celebrated politically -- that treat these 'undesirables' as if they were garbage and not human beings."

Drawing on a theme close to the heart of his predecessor, pope Francis, Leo also defended rescues at sea, speaking the day after 40 migrants were found dead following a shipwreck off Tunisia.

"When cooperatives and projects are formed to feed the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, rescue the shipwrecked, provide daycare, create jobs, access land and build houses, remember that we are not serving an ideology but truly living the Gospel," he said.

Pope Leo, the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, also discussed the US opioid crisis, criticising the pharmaceutical industry for promoting pain medications that could lead to dependence.

"The spread of new synthetic drugs, ever more lethal, is not only a crime involving trafficking of drugs, but really has to do with the production of pharmaceuticals and their profit, lacking a global ethic," he said.

The pontiff also warned of the risks in mining strategic minerals used in electronics such as mobile phones.

Their extraction often "depends on paramilitary violence, child labour and the displacement of populations", he said.

Competition for lithium in particular "represents a grave menace to the sovereignty and the stability of poor states", he added.