Merkel vows to stem flow of refugees into Europe

ANGELA Merkel yesterday finally admitted it was time to end the massive flow of refugees into Europe.

The German Chancellor confessed her country would be “overwhelmed” unless she took action as the number of asylumseekers arriving there this year topped one million.

Since she dramatically opened Germany’s doors to refugees in August, the continent has been besieged with hundreds of thousands of people wanting to get there.

Amid the chaos, thousands of desperate people have died making the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, many in the hope of taking up Merkel’s invitation.

In the face of mounting anger from members of her own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and among European leaders in neighbouring countries or those bordering the EU, Merkel yesterday vowed to stem the flow of people.

Speaking to the party faithful at its annual conference, she repeated her catchphrase from throughout the migrant crisis, “we can do this”, but effectively admitted Germany could only cope if she wrestled back control of the influx.

“A continuation of the current influx would in the long-term overwhelm the state and society, even in a country like Germany,” she said. The leader, once known as the “Iron Chancellor”, won rapturous applause after announcing the volte-face.

However, she resisted calls to set a limit on the number of arrivals: “We want to, and we will, noticeably reduce the number of refugees. With an approach focused on the German, European and global level, we will succeed in regulating and limiting migration,” she said.

Merkel attempted to defend her August decision, which drew hundreds of thousands to Europe, claiming it was a “humanitarian imperative”.

She appealed to the party’s sense of history, saying that the same strength that allowed it “to rebuild from the rubble of the war to create the economic miracle, and to go from division to a reunified country” would get Germany through the crisis.

Ahead of an EU summit tomorrow, she said she was banking on a multi-pronged approach to cut refugee numbers, urging bolstered protection for the bloc’s external borders, support for Turkey to host refugees in the long term and a long-shot bid for a distribution scheme among EU member states.

She also touted a range of measures already undertaken in Germany including speeding up the deportation of failed asylum applicants.