THE detention centres where Europe-bound refugees are held are like Nazi concentration camps, Pope Francis says.

“Refugee camps are concentration camps” because they are so overcrowded,” the pontiff said on Saturday.

He spoke during a special religious service on Tiber Island in central Rome, commemorating modern-day Christian martyrs.

In an off-the-cuff addition to his homily, Francis recalled meeting a man and his three children during a visit last year to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/pope-francis-refugee-camps-are-concentration-camps/news-story/e75cee847d29fc61582379009590c4dd