Europe will
\nnever turn away those who need protection, said the European Comission First
\nVice-President Frans Timmermans, urging Member States to stay true to the
\nvalues of humanity in the face of what he called a global crisis. The statement
\ncomes as Europe is facing the largest migrant inflow since WW2. Many of the
\npeople trying to reach the West are fleeing war-torn countries like Syria and
\nAfghanistan. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The German
\nChancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Francois Hollande jointly
\ncalled for a common EU asylum policy and urged Italy and Greece to establish
\nregistration centres for newly-arrived migrants as soon as possible. The
\nestablishment of these centres was agreed at the June meeting of the European
\nCouncil, but none has been set up so far. After talks with the French President, Angela
\nMerkel said these centres need to be created before the year-end in countries
\nlike Italy and Greece, where most of the recent wave of migrants has arrived in
\nthe EU. There are moments in European history
\nwhen we face exceptional circumstances, and these are exceptional circumstances
\nthat will last, president Hollande also said. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Some
\n250,000 illegal immigrants from outside Europe have arrived in Europe since the
\nbeginning of the year, which triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
\nApart from people fleeing conflict areas such as the Middle East, there are
\nalso people from African countries driven by hopes to find a better life in
\nEurope. They transit Libya taking advantage of the chaos in this country to be
\nable to cross the Mediterranean into Greece and Italy. Another way of reaching
\nEurope, which is used mainly by Syrians and Afghans, is to cross Turkey and
\npart of the Aegean Sea to reach the Greek islands. While Greece and Italy are
\ngenerally faced with illegal immigrants coming from outside Europe, Germany has
\nseen a massive inflow of refugees coming through the Balkans. According to some
\nestimates, the number of illegal migrants reaching Germany is to exceed 800,000
\nby the end of the year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Historian
\nDorin Matei told Radio Romania that Europe must join forces to find a solution.
\nHe says that unfortunately the solutions identified so far are the same ones
\nthat were used 1,500 years ago by the emperors of China and Rome, namely
\nbuilding walls and fences. The Chinese emperors built the Great Wall of China,
\nwhile the Romans built Trajan’s Wall, today on Romanian territory, and
\nHadrian’s Wall between England and Scotland. None of these measures worked, as
\nthey only halted migration temporarily. Today, Europeans seem to be taken by
\nsurprise by this migration wave, but hopefully they will come up with a
\nsolution, otherwise things will become really complicated, says Dorin Matei. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
For
\nthe time being, Brussels has promised to help France cope with the people
\ntrying to reach Britain and is considering giving Hungary migrant hotspot
\nstatus to help this country with migrant influx. This, however, depends on the
\ncooperation of all Member States, even those which are not directly affected by
\nthis crisis. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Brussels, Cerasela Radulescu, explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nEuropean Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who visited the
\nrefugee camp in the French port city of Calais, once again called for the
\ninvolvement of all 28 EU Member States, including those who are not confronted
\nwith this problem. Timmermans said the Commission would support the frontline
\nstates faced with mass migration by sending European staff to help with the
\nidentification and registration of asylum seekers and sending home those who
\nare not eligible for asylum. The EU official also said it was necessary to
\ncreate a permanent mechanism for the distribution of asylum seekers, a
\nso-called relocation mechanism that could be activated whenever a crisis
\noccurs.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A
\nfirst high-level emergency meeting will take place in Brussels on September 14,
\nwhen EU interior ministers will discuss the immigration issue. Luxembourg’s
\nImmigration and Asylum Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country is currently
\nholding the EU rotating presidency, has called for this meeting in order to
\nassess the situation on the ground and the political actions in progress, and
\nto discuss new initiatives to consolidate the European response to the
\nmigration issue. All these show that the European Union and its leaders are
\nfully aware of the unprecedented scope of this phenomenon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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