Four in 10 migrants have no hope of getting asylum

FOUR in 10 of the tens of thousands of new migrants travelling across Europe via Greece and the Balkans have no prospect of gaining asylum in the EU, a new study suggests.

EU figures show the proportion of refugees making their way across the Balkans from Afghanistan and Iraq has risen markedly since September last year, compared with those from Syria.

Citizens of these countries have a lower chance of receiving asylum, suggesting more will have to be sent back, EU officials told German media.

But there is no indication of how this is to happen, at a time when public hostility is growing. Cities across western Europe hosted anti-immigrant rallies over the weekend, while even the Catholic Church said Germany could not go on “taking in the world’s needy”.

In January, 60,466 migrants arrived in Greece from Turkey, an average of 1,951 people daily. That is significantly down from the 6,929 who arrived each day during the peak month of October. But the number could soon rise again as the weather improves and fighting near Aleppo triggers a new exodus.

Frontex, the European border agency, said the proportion of Syrians among those entering Greece fell from 69 per cent in September to 39 per cent last month, while almost half were from either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Migrants from north-west Africa also made up a larger proportion of those arriving in January, according to Frontex. These are mostly classified as economic migrants.”

The scale of the issue is worsening relations between member states and the European Commission.

In Germany, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, chairman of the Catholic bishops’ conference, called for a reduction in the influx of refugees. The country cannot take in “all the world’s needy”, he told the Passauer Neue Presse.

Across Europe, the anti-immigration group Pegida organised protests in Dublin, Dresden, Prague and Warsaw.

In Birmingham, demonstrators held banners featuring the face of Donald Trump and the words ‘Trump Is Right’, referring to his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

In Calais, Gen Christian Piquemal, 75, who led the Foreign Legion in the 1990s, was arrested with about 20 other people after scuffles broke out between police and protesters.

Gen Piquemal said he was shocked the police used tear gas to break up the rally while the protesters sang the Mar

seillaise. “I expected you to be standing at attention, singing with us,” he said.