Ban Ki-moon told a news conference that he was shocked to see “how these refugees and migrants were treated, it’s not acceptable”.
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Deep differences over how to cope with the influx of people mostly fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan have triggered a chain of beggar-thy-neighbour actions among European countries, sparking a crisis in the 28-nation EU. In practice, Greece, the first landing point for many of those now making their way through Europe, has been so overwhelmed by the nearly 350,000 people who have arrived this year that it is unable to screen them.
What next for Germany’s asylum seekers? “I believe we have a moral duty to offer them protection”, the EU’s migration commissioner Dmitris Avramopoulos said this week after meeting with Hungarian officials. It is not because the wealthy European Union cannot find room for several hundred thousand refugees, when poor countries such as Lebanon and Jordan are taking in millions.
German media reported the number of refugees arriving at Munich Central Station declined sharply after the reintroduction of border checks with Austria. Germany has very generous asylum laws, and we are proud of this.
As she toured a refugee center in the eastern German town of Heidenau on August 26, hearing stories from Syrians about traumatic journeys to flee their civil war, protesters against their arrival jeered and shouted abuse. “Germany is neither able nor willing to solve the refugee crisis” alone. Of prime importance is integrating into German society those refugees who will stay.
Refugees approach a temporary point before being bused to a camp to register in the countryside of Roszke, Hungary, on Saturday, September 12, 2015, after an hourslong trek through Serbia.
Croatia began to bus refugees to the Hungarian border on Friday. Merkel defended her government’s decision last week to re-introduce border controls, especially along the country’s border with Austria, saying this was necessary to enable the registration of asylum-seekers and to facilitate and orderly entry into this country. The refugee crisis is a litmus test of our solidarity. There, they agreed to emphatically reject Angela Merkel’s call for a more even distribution of refugees and immigrants across the European Union. Germany presented its proposals, which include a way of distributing the refugees more equally among the countries of the European Union; an extended list of safe countries of origin; and a more integrated European asylum policy.
The plan proposed by the Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker foresaw penalties up to 0.002 percent of the gross domestic product for countries which decide not to take part in the scheme for the time being.
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The refugee crisis is not only a European challenge, but rather one facing Western civilization and what we stand for. He says they lost their home in Aleppo in Syria and escaped to Europe via Turkey by boat. Only if he is granted that, a refugee may receive a work license and can later obtain citizenship.This is why Hungary is overwhelmed with handling the refugee crisis at the moment – the mostly Syrian people come from the East and try to cross Hungary in order to make their way to Austria, Germany and Sweden, the wealthiest and most welcoming European states.
