Pope Benedict XVI has called upon the EU and Africa to put an end to human trafficking.

Speaking at a Mass to mark Palm Sunday, the Pope said that the global economic crisis was increasingly pushing poor people to make hazardous journeys to other countries. He cited a recent incident where 200 Africans drowned after their overcrowded boat capsized off Libya.

He said, “We can’t resign ourselves to tragedies like this that unfortunately have been occurring for some time.

“The dimensions of the phenomenon make it increasingly urgent that strategies coordinated between the European Union and African states, just like adequate measures of a humanitarian nature, are taken to prevent migrants from turning to unscrupulous traffickers.”

The Pope also called on people to live a life of sacrifice.

“A successful life without sacrifice does not exist," he said. "If I look back on my personal life, I have to say that the moments when I said ‘yes’ to renunciation were the biggest and most important moments of my life.”

Before the Mass, the Pope led a procession of cardinals and bishops. He is expected to attend two masses on Thursday marking the Last Supper. At one of the masses, he will wash the feet of 12 men.

On Good Friday, he will attend another two services, including one where he will make a Way of the Cross procession around the Colosseum in Rome.