EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY STEINMEIER Steinmeier calls for binding quotas for migrants in EU countries

Record ID: 142741

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/GERMANY STEINMEIER Steinmeier calls for binding quotas for migrants in EU countries
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER WALKING INTO AMBASSADORS CONFERENCE STEINMEIER CLOSE UP CAMERA VARIOUS OF STEINMEIER SITTING AUDIENCE STEINMEIER WALKING TO PODIUM PAN FROM AUDIENCE TO STEINMEIER SPEAKING MAN TAKING PICTURES WITH SMARTPHONE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "No tide of refugees justifies the catastrophic humanitarian conditions that we have seen and experienced in the last few weeks in many places in Europe. And therefore we need uniform processes in Europe: institutions and equal standards. And from our point view this requires the introduction of a binding quota system that ensures a fair distribution of migrants in Europe." AUDIENCE STEINMEIER LEAVING PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8GR7TYQCPK4A0K4VGGZIF32C6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called again on on Monday (August 24) for binding quotas for migrants in all EU member states, reitering demands Germany has made as the tide of refugees into the country increases.
    "No tide of refugees justifies the catastrophic humanitarian conditions that we have seen and experienced in the last few weeks in many places in Europe. And therefore we need uniform processes in Europe: institutions and equal standards. And from our point view this requires the introduction of a binding quota system that ensures a fair distribution of migrants in Europe," Steinmeier said at the opening of a diplomatic conference in Berlin.
    Steinmeier said that the basic right that Europe offered the 'necessary protection for people in need of protection', must be upheld.
    As Europe struggles with an influx of migrants fleeing war in countries such as Syria and Iraq, Germany's interior minister also said on Sunday (August 23) that the EU had to agree on a list of countries of 'safe origin' to make it easier to deport refugees, including nations trying to join the bloc and some African states.
    Germany, which has relatively liberal asylum laws, expects the number of refugees to quadruple this year to 800,000, almost 1 percent of the population. Chancellor Angela Merkel says the issue is a bigger problem for Europe than Greece's debt crisis.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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