French PM: Not to Host More than 30,000 Refugees
Local Editor
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says his country would not host more than 30,000 refugees fleeing militancy in Syria and Iraq.
Premier Valls said on Thursday that his country "cannot welcome to Europe all those who flee" the ongoing conflict in Syria.
He also made clear that a certain number of refugees who wouldn't be granted asylum would have to leave France. "Those [whose applications] are rejected have to be escorted back to the border."
The European Union [EU] has recently adopted by majority a resolution to distribute some 120,000 refugees among the member states, much to the dismay of some Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, who oppose the mandatory quotas in the sharing of the exodus.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] has warned that Europe could expect a record one million people to request asylum this year. International organizations and rights activists and smaller countries within EU expect such countries as Britain and France to take greater responsibility in the refugee resettlement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an address to the country's parliament on Thursday, expressed doubt that the recent plan adopted by the EU could resolve the crisis the continent is facing, saying the 28-nation bloc is still far from a durable solution.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Germany has been "the Western country most financially affected" by the crisis in Syria.
The government of Chancellor Merkel agreed on Thursday to give its 16 regional states around four billion euros next year to help them cope with a record influx of refugees.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also mobilized soldiers and prison laborers to build a vast new barrier along its border with Croatia despite opposition from other EU countries.
Meanwhile, over 600 international lawyers on Thursday signed an open letter to the EU, expressing "horror at the human rights violations being perpetrated against those seeking refuge." They have also reminded member states of their legal duties toward asylum seekers.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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