Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said his government won’t be erecting border checks and that Sweden’s move risks backfiring because more people will be able to request asylum at the border, newspaper Politiken reported. “The migration office is under strong pressure… and the police believe there is a threat against public order”. The controls will initially last for 10 days, which is what European Union rules allow, but can then be extended by 20 days at a time, he said.
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That gathering follows a two-day summit meeting with African leaders, who agreed to a deal that included the aid agreement, worth roughly $1.93 billion, aimed at addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven defended the emergency measure when he spoke to reporters outside the European Union summit on refugees in Malta on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Slovenia began building a razor-wire fence along its border with Croatia, a day after the government said it would install “temporary technical obstacles”, but stressed official border crossings would remain open and that the move was created to restore order.
In all, more than 744,000 migrants have escaped to Europe this year.
He also added that, under such circumstances, refugees coming to Sweden shall either return to the country they came from, or select a different transit route, or seek asylum in Sweden.
With almost 200,000 asylum-seekers expected by the end of the year, Sweden is receiving more per capita than any other European Union nation.
“We have contingency plans in Denmark, so we can start border controls, and we can do it quickly”, he said. An Afghan refugee died last month after being shot by Bulgarian police who said it was an accidental death from a ricochet. That, he said, would reduce smuggling and loss of life, and make the distribution of migrants across Europe more orderly. “It is not sustainable that one country, or two countries, take the vast part of the responsibility”.
WERTHEIMER: The Migration Agency in Sweden says it’s run out of housing.
“Migrants really only want to reach four or five countries and, among those, mainly Germany and Sweden”, said Martijn Pluim of the worldwide Center for Migration Policy Development, an global organization based in Vienna.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, over 700,000 people have entered Europe through the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, and Sweden, along with Germany, has taken in a large number of refugees.
The summit of European Union and African leaders in the Maltese capital Valletta was planned after about 800 people died in a migrant boat sinking off Libya in April.
Croatia criticised the Slovenian fence, saying it would be better to spend money on preparing reception centres for migrants.
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A man holds a girl after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the Skala Sikaminias village on the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos.
