Europe to build 100,000 ‘places’ for refugees
Some 100,000 “places” will be set up in reception centers along the refugee route beginning from Greece through the Balkans in a bid to tackle the unprecedented influx of asylum seekers into Europe, a senior European Union (EU) official says.
The measure is part of a 17-point deal agreed by the heads of 11 EU states and three non-EU countries at a Sunday emergency summit in Brussels.
Following the meeting, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a press conference that 50,000 places would be created in Greece and another 50,000 in the Balkan countries.
Toughening regulations
The reception places, to be built with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), will be essential to providing shelter for refugees and to speed up their registration process, Juncker said.
The deal contained “pragmatic and operational measures to ensure people are not left to fend for themselves in the rain and cold,” he added.
Based on the deal, no country will let asylum seekers through to an adjoining state without first obtaining its neighbor’s consent. The agreement also includes a number of measures to beef up border control in European countries, and to facilitate the deportation of refugees who are deemed not in need of protection.
The heads of ten hard-hit EU countries, namely Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden, plus the leaders of Albania, Serbia and Macedonia participated in the Sunday summit.
Europe is facing record refugee arrivals, with over 47,500 people entering Slovenia, a country whose population is just two million, over the past week. Wrestling to cope with the influx of refugees, the tiny EU state has asked Brussels for 140 million euros (155 million dollars) as well as police backup and logistical support.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 680,000 people fleeing foreign-backed wars, terrorism, and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have landed on European shores this year after making dangerous sea journeys from Turkey to Greece and across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. More than 3,000 have died or gone missing trying to reach Europe.
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