Merkel calls for solidarity on refugees, asylum seekers

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday made a renewed call for a more even redistribution of refugees across the European Union (EU), China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

“Germany wants to see a European asylum system that is “stable and finally reflected principles of solidarity, especially with regards to the fair distribution of refugees in the EU,” she said in a speech in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), before she is scheduled to attend a special EU summit in Brussels.

Merkel suggested linking the transfer of the EU subsidies to economically weaker regions shouldbebasedontheirengagement in the EU asylum policy, so as to prevent free-riding issues.

“When we redistribute the money from the structural funds, we must ensure that the criteria for obtaining such aid include the engagement of many regional and communal governments in accepting and integrating migrants.”

The EU interior ministers are trying to reach a final agreement on the shape of a ‘Dublin IV’ system.

Critics of existing rules have repeatedly highlighted that EU asylum policy put member states at the Schengen Area’s external borders at a disadvantage.

As such, countries like Italy and Greece, are legally responsible for the bulk of refugees.

Following the collapse of ‘Dublin III’ in 2015, more than one million asylum seekers arrived in Germany. Together with Austria and Sweden, Germany has thus found itself in a situation in which it must shoulder a disproportionate share of the financial and logistical burden of the ‘refugee crisis’. — Bernama