Temporary border checks on Austrian frontier will limit the influx of asylum seekers
Migrants cross the Greece-F.Y.R. Macedonia border near the village of Idomeni, northern Greece on Sunday. (Photo: AFP)
Munich (Germany): Germany said it was reinstating border controls on Sunday as Europe’s top economy admitted it was stretched to the limit trying to cope with a record influx of refugees.
The announcement came as tragedy struck again off the coast of Greece, with 34 more migrants — among them babies and children — drowning when their overcrowded wooden boat capsized in high winds. German minister Thomas de Maiziere said border controls would be reintroduced with immediate effect, and the Czech republic announced similar measures on the border with Austria.
“The aim of this measure is to stop the current influx to Germany and to return to an orderly process,” Maiziere said, as the city of Munich recorded an influx of 63,000 asylum seekers in two weeks. Asylum-seekers must understand “they cannot chose the states where they are seeking protection,” he told reporters.
Under EU rules, the first country of entry is required to deal with an asylum-seeker’s request for protection, but Germany had waived the rule for Syrian refugees. EU home affairs ministers will hold an emergency meeting to discuss deeply divisive European Commission plans to introduce compulsory quotas for refugees.
34 killed in boat tragedy off Greece:
At least 34 people, among them 15 babies and children, drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized in high winds off a Greek island on Sunday, the latest migrant tragedy at sea.
The latest deaths came as Athens angrily defended its handling of the mounting refugee crisis in Europe and appealed for more help. Four babies and 11 young children — six boys and five girls — were among those on the stricken wooden boat when it sank off the island of Farmakonisi. Eight of the victims were found by coastguard frogmen in the hold of the boat.
Canada closes door:
Canada’s Conservative government has so far declined to resettle more Syrian refugees despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old washed up on a Turkish beach that focused the world’s attention on the largest migrant crisis since WW II.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, announced on Sunday that Canada will provide $100 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugee camps but made no announcement to resettle more refugees.
A number of countries have announced that they will take in thousands of more Syrians since the picture of the dead toddler pierced people’s consciousness two weeks ago.
( Source : AFP )
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