EU vows to stop ‘uncontrolled’ influx of refugees

THE European Union will act to prevent “uncontrolled” mass immigration in the wake of the Afghan crisis, according to a draft statement in Brussels leaked to media, as Turkey ruled out taking more refugees.

EU states want to avoid a repeat of the bloc’s handling of the huge influx of refugees and migrants to Greece and Italy in 2015 that fuelled support for antimigrant, far-right movements. A call for “solidarity” via a system of migrant quotas prompted a threat to slap huge fines on several Eastern European countries who refused to take part.

“The EU and its member states stand determined to act jointly to prevent the recurrence of uncontrolled large-scale illegal migration movements faced in the past, by preparing a coordinated and orderly response,” interior ministers are due to declare at an emergency meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

The leaked note emerged as the UN refugee agency UNHCR warned that up to half a million Afghans could flee their homeland by the end of the year. It appealed for support on Monday, saying “a larger crisis is just beginning” for Afghanistan’s 39 million people.

Thousands of Afghans have been evacuated by Western forces following the Taliban’s seizure of the capital Kabul on August 15 but many remain stuck inside the country.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share responsibility with Iran and Pakistan, which already host 2.2 million Afghans.

“We must not turn away,” he said in a statement. EU interior ministers will also reiterate on Tuesday the need to provide financial aid to countries neighbouring with Afghanistan.

However, Turkey, which helped contain the 2015 crisis in exchange for EU funding by taking in millions of Syrians, has let it be known it is unwilling to repeat the exercise.

“It is out of the question for us to take an additional refugee burden,” Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said on Sunday after talks with his German counterpart.

Turkey currently hosts 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the world’s largest refugee population, in addition to around 300,000 Afghans.