Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said before the meeting: “We will strictly reject any attempt to introduce some permanent mechanism of redistributing refugees, We as well reject using a quota system in any temporary mechanism”.
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Not only could the Islamic State thus more easily launch future attacks in Europe, but if as asylum seekers the militants eventually gain European citizenship, an E.U. passport would allow easy access to the US which does not require short-term visas for most European countries.
The number of such people who could be eligible for asylum or some form of global protection in Europe. And until Dr Merkel brings some clarity to this, it is in the interest of the other countries through which migrants pass to continue pushing them towards Germany, thereby perpetuating the flow. While the leaders are expected to sign off on any proposals agreed by justice ministers, they will also discuss more long-term measures.
The majority of these asylum seekers are Syrians who are trying to flee a civil war that has claimed more than 250,000 lives since 2011 and resulted in one of the largest refugee exoduses since the Second World War.
European Union ministers are considering a watered down plan to relocate 120,000 refugees throughout the bloc, which drops binding quotas and leaves Hungary out of the scheme, sources said Monday.
Nothing on the agenda of the meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday will immediately help countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans to manage their borders now.
Police in the state of Bavaria said 1,700 people arrived in the town of Passau from Austria yesterday by train and they were taken to a new reception centre for refugees in the town of Feldkirchen.
In Germany, by far the most popular destination, the head of domestic intelligence said there was a big worry that radical Islamists living in the country could try to recruit young refugees “who could be easy prey”.
It expects to receive between 800,000 and one million asylum seekers in 2015, generating extra costs close to 10 billion euros.
During the first half of this year, a total 2,18,220 people applied for asylum, 125 per cent more than during the corresponding period in 2014, the ministry said.
This was seen by many refugees as an assurance that they will not be deported once they reach Germany.
Slovenia’s government has said it will accept asylum seekers, but will send back anyone deemed to be an illegal immigrant.
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The contrast is even starker between the United States and the countries near Syria that have taken in the lion’s share of Syrian refugees: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.
