EUROPE-MIGRANTS/MERKEL Germany's Merkel says EU members should share responsibility for refugees

Record ID: 139950

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/MERKEL Germany's Merkel says EU members should share responsibility for refugees
  • Date: 12th September 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF VENUE, WHERE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION (CDU) IS HOLDING MEETING ON DIGITAL AGENDA GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL ARRIVING STAGE AUDIENCE 'DIGITAL AGENDA' EVENT IN PROGRESS VARIOUS OF MERKEL LISTENING AND TAKING NOTES PARTICIPANTS LISTENING MERKEL WALKING ONTO STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "We took a decision in the past week during an emergency situation. I think it was the right decision, I am deeply convinced. People have done a great job and showed that Germany takes on its responsibility to help people seeking protection, civil war refugees, asylum seekers. But I have to say: it's not only the responsibility of Germany, it's the responsibility of all member states of the European Union and we are going to stress that point." AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "The majority of European Union member states have a common asylum policy. A common asylum policy means that one can rely on the other. This starts with protection of the outer borders." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "But we have a second outer border and that's the border between Greece and Turkey and here we need the same kind of protection, which is not ensured at the moment. Greece also has to fulfill its responsibility and we have to initiate talks with Turkey." VARIOUS OF MERKEL TALKING / AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "Whoever comes here for economic reasons, which can be understandable, cannot get the right of residence here and we have to say this clearly. Otherwise we can't help the ones who seek protection." BANNER READING "CDU DIGITAL" MERKEL SPEAKING AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "To be successful in the Syrian civil war and the fight against Islamic terror, we need cooperation with the United States of America, but also cooperation with Russia. Otherwise there won't be a solution, and Germany commits itself to that." MERKEL SPEAKING
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3Z5NOR7RW53UULF8FZK9VRTOW
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: German chancellor Angela Merkel urged member states of the European Union on Saturday (September 12) to share the responsibility of taking in refugees seeking protection.
    Germany expects to take in 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone.
    But other EU states have balked at calls to take in some of the hundreds of thousands of people who have streamed into Europe this year to escape wars and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
    "We took a decision in the past week during an emergency situation. I think it was the right decision, I am deeply convinced. People have done a great job and showed that Germany takes on its responsibility to help people seeking protection, civil war refugees, asylum seekers. But I have to say: it's not only the responsibility of Germany, it's the responsibility of all member states of the European Union and we are going to stress that point," said Merkel at an event of the Christian Democrats (CDU) in Berlin.
    Merkel added the majority of EU member states had agreed on common asylum policies, which also included the protection of the EU's outer borders.
    "But we have a second outer border and that's the border between Greece and Turkey and here we need the same kind of protection, which is not ensured at the moment. Greece also has to fulfill its responsibility and we have to initiate talks with Turkey," she said.
    Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday that a record-breaking influx of refugees could help ease Germany's skills shortage.
    Around 77 percent of asylum-seekers and war refugees are of working age, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) said in a report last month.
    But Merkel said those coming to Germany purely for economic reasons would not be accepted.
    "Whoever comes here for economic reasons, which can be understandable, cannot get the right of residence here and we have to say this clearly. Otherwise we can't help the ones who seek protection," she said.
    Many of those arriving in Germany are fleeing violence in countries like Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.
    Merkel said it was imperative to bring an end to the war in Syria to stem the flow of refugees.
    "To be successful in the Syrian civil war and the fight against Islamic terror, we need cooperation with the United States of America, but also cooperation with Russia. Otherwise there won't be a solution, and Germany commits itself to that," she said.
    On Friday, German politicians from the left and right accused Merkel's government of losing control of the refugee situation.
    Merkel has allowed tens of thousands of asylum seekers camped out in Hungary to travel through Austria to Germany, in an effort to avert a humanitarian crisis. But a new poll carried a worrying message for the chancellor.
    Two in three Germans believe the government is doing a "rather bad" or "very bad" job in handling the situation, according to the poll by Emnid for private news channel N24.
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