Merkel urges Europe to share refugee burden with Turkey

German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday urged European states to share the refugee burden with Turkey, the Anadolu Agency reported.

“We must divide the burden on Turkey, caused by harbouring more than two million refugees, between Turkey and Europe,” Merkel told reporters.

Merkel explained that her coalition government wants to organise the flow of asylum seekers in addition to helping those in need of asylum.

The German Chancellor said her government introduced new laws including an initial screening of refugees by their travel documents which also include returning refugees whose asylum requests have been rejected and reuniting refugees with their families in Germany.

Merkel stressed the need to prepare the refugees registration centres to be established in Greece until the end of this year, adding that “refugees will be registered by European standards in these centres before being distributed to Europe or sent back to their countries”.

She criticised the closing of borders to refugees by some European states, saying such actions will not solve the refugee crisis.

“I do not want to be pessimistic but disputes could turn more quickly than we think into fights, then fights into other forms that none of us ever desires,” she cautioned.

She warned that the closure of the Austrian border would lead refugees to attempt crossing into Germany from other countries.