ROME — The Vatican is enacting tougher penalties for those who enter its territory or violate its airspace without permission, threatening violators with fines and prison terms.
Vatican increases both financial sanctions and prison sentences for those who violate strict security regulations, Catholic News Agency reported Wednesday.
through recent events proclamationSigned by Cardinal Fernando Bergès Arzaga, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Commission, violators face fines of between 10,000 euros and 25,000 euros and prison terms of between one and four years.
Vatican City, the world's only fully walled sovereign territory, has several entrances, all but one of which, the Arch of St. Anne, are strictly locked from dusk until dawn. . Swiss Guards are stationed at the gates, and nearby military police carry firearms.
“A person who enters the territory of Vatican City with violence, intimidation, or deception, unless the act constitutes a more serious crime, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to four years and a fine of between €10,000 and €25,000. “The Italian newspaper said. Reading linguistic text.
The document further clarifies that the understanding of infiltration by “deception” also includes infiltration into Vatican territory.
“Entry by fraudulently circumventing national security and protection systems or evading border controls will be considered to have been carried out by ‘deception,’” the Decree clarifies.
Penalties become even more severe if a person uses a weapon or dangerous substance or enters the country illegally in a group. In addition, the article states that if a person is forced to enter the country by passing through a border control while driving a vehicle, those amounts will be increased by two-thirds.
In May 2023, the driver drove into the Vatican border, passed through two security checkpoints, and was eventually arrested.
The 40-year-old man was initially refused entry by the Swiss Guards at the Vatican's St. Anne's Gate, but he then maneuvered his car away from the gate and drove back at high speed, knocking out guards who had jumped out of his path. Ta. .
The new decree also introduces new provisions for unauthorized overflights of Vatican airspace, including the use of drones, with penalties of up to three years in prison.
Last August, Pope Francis suggested that immigration laws should be relaxed, rather than tightened, to allow more migrants to cross the border, calling expulsion a “grave sin” he added.
“What is needed is not stricter laws or the militarization of borders, but expanded means of safe and regular access,” the pope said. said During his weekly general audience, he spoke about “and the global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity.”
“We must say this clearly: There are people who are working systematically and by all means to turn back migrants, to turn back migrants,” the Pope said. said. “And this is a grave sin if done with conscience and responsibility.”
God “shares in the drama of the immigrants. God is with the immigrants, suffers with the immigrants, weeps with the immigrants, hopes with the immigrants.” He added that he was there. Those who drive them back. ”
Calling for more rationalization of international migration is a hallmark of Francis's Holy See, while demonizing as “xenophobes” those who seek stronger, less porous borders.
The Pope also claimed that The safety of immigrants, legal or illegal, should take precedence over national security concerns, and they should not be subject to mass deportation.
