Battle shaping up in European Union over migrant quotas

[webfact]

Battle shaping up in European Union over migrant quotas
LORNE COOK, Associated Press
RAF CASERT, Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union implored its member countries Wednesday to better share the burden of refugees flooding the continent, but the numbers involved were small compared with the half-million who have already arrived and the hundreds of thousands more on their way.

With Syrians, Eritreans and Afghans often hoping to settle in wealthy nations like Germany and Sweden, the EU is struggling find a more equitable solution that would also send a fair share of refugees to less-desirable and less-welcoming places such as Slovakia and the Baltics.

Hours after EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Europe had a historic duty to act and relocate 160,000 who have arrived in overwhelmed Hungary, Greece and Italy, a number of Eastern European and Baltic states vowed to reject the imposition of any kind of quotas from Brussels.

The plan is a drop in the ocean for an economic power like the EU, where a half-billion people live, compared with efforts by Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, which are hosting more than 4 million refugees, mostly from Syria.

But despite the troubling scenes of drowned children on beaches, or thousands of people running at razor-wire fences or crammed into buses and trains, the 28 nations simply cannot agree on modest proposals, let alone profound ways to tackle Europe's biggest refugee emergency since World War II.

With battle lines drawn, the scene is set for an ugly confrontation when EU interior ministers meet Sept. 14.

"If all the focus is on redistributing quotas of refugees around Europe, that won't solve the problem, and it actually sends a message that it is a good idea to get on a boat and make that perilous journey," British Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers in London.

In the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Juncker said that now is the time for action because "the refugee crisis will not simply go away." He underlined that 500,000 migrants have entered Europe this year, many from Syria and Libya.

"Imagine for a second it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn apart around you," Juncker said. "There is no wall you would not climb, no sea you would not sail, no border you would not cross."

The Commission's new plan involves sharing 120,000 refugees from Greece, Italy and Hungary among 22 member states, on top of a proposal the EU's executive made in May to share 40,000 refugees from just Greece and Italy.

Britain, Ireland and Denmark are not legally bound to take part. Greece, Italy and Hungary are too overwhelmed to participate.

Despite the urgency, the EU's first refugee plan never won full support, and only about 32,000 refugees have been allocated. Hungary was among the countries to reject it, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 378,000 people have entered Europe this year, including over 256,000 crossing the sea to Greece and nearly 120,000 braving the Mediterranean to reach Italy.

Hungary estimates that more than 160,000 have crossed its borders alone this year. The U.N. refugee agency warned Tuesday that 42,000 could arrive there in the next 10 days.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the new immigration plan and also called for it to be made compulsory.

"We need a binding agreement on a binding distribution of refugees among all member states, according to fair criteria," Merkel said in Berlin. Germany has taken in more than any other EU country and would have to accept over 31,000 more under the plan.

On Monday, France threw its weight behind the EU plan by saying it would take in 24,000 refugees this year, exactly the figure proposed.

Britain, which is not taking part, said separately that over the next five years, it would welcome up to 20,000 refugees currently in countries outside the EU. Ireland is also taking 520 refugees from camps outside Europe.

But Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said his government's opposition to mandatory quotas for migrants has not softened.

"The compulsory quotas are not a good solution," Sobotka said in a statement. "To continue with a discussion about their establishment all across Europe only prevents us from taking really important and necessary steps."

The Czechs say most migrants are heading for Germany and don't want to stay in the Czech Republic anyway. Hungary has also made a similar argument.

Estonia's social welfare minister, Margus Tsahkna, insisted that "each country should be able to decide how many refugees it is willing to accept. This decision shouldn't be in the hands of the EU Commission."

Train service between Germany and Denmark was halted Wednesday after Danish police stopped hundreds of migrants who had arrived by rail across the border, the Danish railway company DSB said.

About 100 people who had arrived from Germany have refused to leave a train in the Danish port of Roedby and they do not want to be registered in Denmark, said police spokeswoman Anne Soe. Many want to go to Sweden, Norway or Finland, because they have relatives there or believe that conditions there for asylum-seekers are better.

Under EU rules, people seeking asylum should do so in the first EU country they enter.
___

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Karel Janicek in Prague and Jari Tanner in Tallinn contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-10

[watso63]

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

[Usernames]

"Imagine for a second it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn apart around you," Juncker said. "There is no wall you would not climb, no sea you would not sail, no border you would not cross."

Imagine for a second, Jean-Claude, that it was YOU who these so-called refugees were moving in next to and soon demanding their mosques, food and dietary laws, harassing you when you came outside your house, or threatening or robbing YOU. But of course it isn't you. YOU are probably safely ensconced in your private villa or chalet far away from the mayhem you are inflicting on everyone else. Time for peasants with pitchforks to march on the castle and drag out these Frankensteins like Juncker and put them in jail.

[NongKhaiKid]

When these 160,000 migrants are spread throughout Europe where will all the houses, jobs, classroom places etc come from and as we see these migrants can be very impatient ? I'm sure local people on various lists and waiting will thank their leaders for agreeing to acceptance of migrants who may well get priority, it's happened before.

The EU is facing two possible scenarios and in their rush to prove how humanitarian they are may have overlooked them :

a ) a reaction from disgruntled migrants unhappy that things are not happening for them and

b ) migrants who settle will send the good news home to family and friends who may then decide to start on the Long Match too and the crisis just keeps continuing.

[arfurcrown]

In truth Europe is being attacked and is undergoing an insurrection, invasion call it what one may by these people many of whom are not true''refugees'' but freeloaders of course there is a hardcore of radicals intent on spreading their interpretation of their faith by acts of terror.

Now if this situation is allowed to continue we will see within the next few years a very unpleasant backlash against non Europeans. Hungary has already, France has recently admitted that it has problems of religious, culture and ethnic matters due to the open door policy that has been the norm over the years..

The Scandanavian states are also finding problems due to their policies.

It has to stop, the greater majority of these ''refugees'' are no more than freeloaders who will contribute nothing to the country they settle in.

If the countries concerned do not start to act in a positive fashion and stem the ''refugee'' problem we shall see, sad to say, ''civil unrest within the next few years directed against all members of society for their religious , cultural and ethnic beliefs.

Those ''refugees'' of the Muslim faith should be accommodated in Muslim countries, strangely enough many of the Muslim states have passed laws forbidden the adoption of children and barring certain nationals from entry to their states. A wonderful indictment of religious unity or is it part of a master plan to saturate Europe with Muslims one asks?

The European political leader in their madness are selling are selling their citizens down the river.

''Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first send mad.''

[heina]

Thats the price NATO countries should pay after bomb and ruin Yugoslavia, Afganistan, Iraq, Lybia, Syria etc

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

[baboon]

How could these quotas work anyway? The migrants do not want to stay in Eastern Europe and the countries of Eastern Europe don't want them anyway. Only in the deranged minds of some politicians could this possibly be a recipe for success..

[baboon]

The EU is facing two possible scenarios and in their rush to prove how humanitarian they are may have overlooked them :

a ) a reaction from disgruntled migrants unhappy that things are not happening for them and

b ) migrants who settle will send the good news home to family and friends who may then decide to start on the Long Match too and the crisis just keeps continuing.

Both are possible simultaneously and will happen, in my view.

[watso63]

Thats the price NATO countries should pay after bomb and ruin Yugoslavia, Afganistan, Iraq, Lybia, Syria etc

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

Of course, the wars were engineered by the Great Satan, the Zionists. They should be massing on the borders of Israel, the the sheeple of the world could truly see how democratic and tolerant, the only "democratic nation in the middle east" truly is

[RickBradford]

Politicians' mantram:

We must do something.

This is something.

Therefore we must do it.

[Bakseeda]

"Imagine for a second it were you, your child in your arms, the world you knew torn apart around you," Juncker said ... Imagination is a great thing Mr Junker...... But it is not me ..!! my children are safe in my arms.... my world is being torn apart by people like you..... All you do-gooders ... switch what little brain you have... switch it on... I worked hard ALL my life, same as my father and his father before him.... People like us, we built our country for those "childs" in our arms.. NOT for runaway Moslems who want to sponge off of us... Not for a nation of Christian haters.... Ask the people of our wonderful nation...

And Mr Cameron ...IF you allow our natural enemies entry into our beloved land... Woe be on you......... Send them back from whence they came..... NOW........

[wabothai]

There simply is no low cost housing available in most western Europe's countries. Waitinglists up to 13 years.

How in hell are they going to house all these refugees? In camps for the next 2 or 3 years?

Are the Europeans going to set up and build housing and create all kinds of enclaves?

One for the Syrians, one for the Afghanistani, one for the Eritreans, etc.

This not what the majority of refugees had in mind and eventually they will start protesting with all of the consequences of such.

Camps protected by the UN in the ME or Africa seems the only solution to me.

next, take out the war mongers.

[Ulic]

The first mistake was taking migrants rescued from boats on to Europe instead of returning then

there port of embarkation. The second was Angela Merkel/Germany has fanned the flames. It may

suit Germany because of demographics to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year for the next

20 years but not the rest of Europe. All-100% of these migrants should be provided a train

of bus ticket directly to Germany. This is a German problem as Germany has fanned the flames.

When a couple of million migrants show up on the door, maybe Merkel will regain the plot.

Britain's policy of funding refugee camps in conflict zones neighbouring countries, and accepting

a limited number of the most vulnerable refugees makes infinitely more sense. When things

settle they can then return. This may not be politically correct, but for me this is the direction

this should go.

[GeorgesAbitbol]

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

As all the mess in their countries is due to USA and Europe wanting to gain oil and other resources, i think it is quite fair to take them...

[GeorgesAbitbol]

So funny to see how the TV members (who are sometimes from US and Australia, where their ancestors settled as they flew segregation or other miserable life) can say stupid things like accepting only Christian or turn them back..

It is even more amazing as the majority here do not have an "expatriate" status, no company hired them to bring them here for their qualifications, they migrated here to live a better life, having a better retirement...

So you re a kind of migrant too

The mess in middle east is due to Europe, USA. the biggest threat is the result of USA en EUROPE, the wars which make them run away is due to Europe and USA...

All the specialists warned a decade ago of what will happen with migration flux and no one cared...

Edited September 10, 2015 by GeorgesAbitbol

[dageurreotype]

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

In other news, how are they to determine the 'genuine refugees'? Now that there's a booming trade in fake and stolen passports (bit lilke here really) as reported even in the PC Guardian?

[dageurreotype]

The first mistake was taking migrants rescued from boats on to Europe instead of returning then

there port of embarkation. The second was Angela Merkel/Germany has fanned the flames. It may

suit Germany because of demographics to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year for the next

20 years but not the rest of Europe. All-100% of these migrants should be provided a train

of bus ticket directly to Germany. This is a German problem as Germany has fanned the flames.

When a couple of million migrants show up on the door, maybe Merkel will regain the plot.

Britain's policy of funding refugee camps in conflict zones neighbouring countries, and accepting

a limited number of the most vulnerable refugees makes infinitely more sense. When things

settle they can then return. This may not be politically correct, but for me this is the direction

this should go.

Whilst I agree with the thrust of your post, does anyone truly believe these people would return to their native lands after having been granted asylum in a First World country replete with welfare benefits? Seriously? And whilst I keep seeing these numbers of between 500,000 to 800,000 every year, have they all been rendered incapable of giving birth/redirected their multi birth culture? And will these predominantly Muslim peoples assimilate as well as their predecessors (sarcasm alert), or will these ever swelling numbers, already having imposed their burqa wearing/minaret building/halal eating customs now become ever more shrill in their demands for sharia law?

People need to understand that the Islamic faith is a lifestyle and permeates everything they do, exclusively. Unlike other faiths who do not demand everyone else kowtow to their way of life or get their bloody heads/hands chopped off. Wake up. We're not talking about the likes of Rushdie or Fareed Zakaria here.

[Steely Dan]

Enoch Powell was completely correct with his 'rivers of blood' speech. Sadly this looks like applying to most of Europe, not just the UK where his remarks were originally directed.

[RickBradford]

The migrants, whether genuine refugees, ecomic migrants or infiltrating jihadists are mostly muslim. They should be redirected to safe mulim countries to have their status considered. Europe should only consider genuine christian refugees. The EU and especially Merkel has totally lost the plot.

In other news, how are they to determine the 'genuine refugees'? Now that there's a booming trade in fake and stolen passports (bit lilke here really) as reported even in the PC Guardian?

Genuine refugees are to be found at the closest safe point to the fighting they wanted to get away from. In Syria's case that means southern Turkey or northern Jordan.

The rest are moochers, ready to take the PC West for all they can.

Most of them even admit it; their first acts on reaching European soil are to break European asylum laws by "demanding" to go to where the living is easy, battling European police trying to enforce European law. If that doesn't work, they play the emotional blackmail card, lying down weeping on railway tracks and "demanding" to be put on trains to Dusseldorf and Malmo.

The BBC, without apparent irony, held an interview with a female Ethiopian lawyer in Calais, who was "demanding" to be allowed into Britain so that her unborn daughter could have a better life. Then there was the Gambian student who had travelled through Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and Libya, to finally wind up on the shores of Italy where he "demanded" to go to a richer country.

No wonder Europeans vote in their tens of millions for people such as Farage, Wilders and Le Pen.

It would be wonderful if this turned into such a massive crisis that the whole parasitic EU structure came to pieces under the pressure.

[Baerboxer]

The EU is facing two possible scenarios and in their rush to prove how humanitarian they are may have overlooked them :

a ) a reaction from disgruntled migrants unhappy that things are not happening for them and

b ) migrants who settle will send the good news home to family and friends who may then decide to start on the Long Match too and the crisis just keeps continuing.

Both are possible simultaneously and will happen, in my view.

I think you're right. Looking at the pictures the migrants are made up mostly of young men, of many nationalities, who are simply economic migrants taking their chance. Some genuine refugees who will get swamped, and no doubt some terrorists being sent in. The economic migrants will send back the message to come and be similarly welcomed. The numbers will keep coming and increasing and wonder woman Merkel, the former East German, and wannabee EU dictator Juncker will simply try to force binding quotas on member countries that they determine without any regard to the government of people's opinions in those countries.

At first the migrants will get all sorts of freebies and nothing will be expected from them. They will be given everything they never had. After a time they will be expected to work, earn a living, respect the laws, culture and values of their new homeland. This is when the problems will start. And from all that's been seen it will be violent protests, demands for more freebies, favorite treatment, their own laws and culture, etc etc.

Britain has already been changed dramatically. Loony left local government banning Christmas trees in town centers, or Christmas plays at Children's schools and insisting on teaching all about Ramadan and Eid.

There is going to be one hell of a backlash soon. And the actions of Merkel, Juncker and their friends is stoking that up.

[Baerboxer]

The first mistake was taking migrants rescued from boats on to Europe instead of returning then

there port of embarkation. The second was Angela Merkel/Germany has fanned the flames. It may

suit Germany because of demographics to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year for the next

20 years but not the rest of Europe. All-100% of these migrants should be provided a train

of bus ticket directly to Germany. This is a German problem as Germany has fanned the flames.

When a couple of million migrants show up on the door, maybe Merkel will regain the plot.

Britain's policy of funding refugee camps in conflict zones neighbouring countries, and accepting

a limited number of the most vulnerable refugees makes infinitely more sense. When things

settle they can then return. This may not be politically correct, but for me this is the direction

this should go.

Whilst I agree with the thrust of your post, does anyone truly believe these people would return to their native lands after having been granted asylum in a First World country replete with welfare benefits? Seriously? And whilst I keep seeing these numbers of between 500,000 to 800,000 every year, have they all been rendered incapable of giving birth/redirected their multi birth culture? And will these predominantly Muslim peoples assimilate as well as their predecessors (sarcasm alert), or will these ever swelling numbers, already having imposed their burqa wearing/minaret building/halal eating customs now become ever more shrill in their demands for sharia law?

People need to understand that the Islamic faith is a lifestyle and permeates everything they do, exclusively. Unlike other faiths who do not demand everyone else kowtow to their way of life or get their bloody heads/hands chopped off. Wake up. We're not talking about the likes of Rushdie or Fareed Zakaria here.

The biggest problem with Moslems, in the UK, are the Pakistanis. Not necessarily the original people who came to Britain in the 60's or 70's but the successive generations too. Racist violence, no go zones for whites in parts of Northern cities, stoning cars, sexual exploitation of non Moslem young women, rioting, demanding Sharia law - there is a long list.

Now it seems many of these new migrants are Pakistani economic migrants. This will simply add to time bomb that's already ticking in the UK.

Interestingly, the Indians - Hindu, Sikh, and Christian, who came, and integrated well whilst keeping a lot of traditions, and who do usually work hard and contribute to society, are beginning to speak out about these influxes the EU seems to welcome.

[2alex4alex]

How could these quotas work anyway? The migrants do not want to stay in Eastern Europe and the countries of Eastern Europe don't want them anyway. Only in the deranged minds of some politicians could this possibly be a recipe for success..

Agree..It was posted today on Facebook with already about 7.000 "likes".I think it's photoshop but anyway message is clear.

[Exsexyman]

The first mistake was taking migrants rescued from boats on to Europe instead of returning then

there port of embarkation. The second was Angela Merkel/Germany has fanned the flames. It may

suit Germany because of demographics to welcome 500,000 immigrants a year for the next

20 years but not the rest of Europe. All-100% of these migrants should be provided a train

of bus ticket directly to Germany. This is a German problem as Germany has fanned the flames.

When a couple of million migrants show up on the door, maybe Merkel will regain the plot.

Britain's policy of funding refugee camps in conflict zones neighbouring countries, and accepting

a limited number of the most vulnerable refugees makes infinitely more sense. When things

settle they can then return. This may not be politically correct, but for me this is the direction

this should go.

The first mistake was the West bombing these countries, destabilizing and in some cases destroying them, starting with the illegal attack on Iraq followed by the bombing of Libya, handing control of these countries on a silver platter to Islamic State. No amount of head burying in sand can alter that. In Libya, under the guise of a 'no fly zone', NATO effectively acted as the Islamic State's air force, destroying large swathes of the countries infrastructure, deposing one of the few leaders who, for all his faults, had no truck with Islamic militants and kept them down, brutally of course, but effectively. Now, just as was predicted before the West embarked on this folly, thousands of migrants are flooding in via the mediterranean, where before there were none. The current influx from Syria will be a drop in the ocean compared with what will happen if NATO countries get their way and do the same with Assad, creating a vacuum which will inevitably be filled by Islamic State. The so called "moderates" in Syria who were championed, trained, armed and funded by the West have already transformed into Allahu Akbar shouting Islamic militants. Yet Western governments are desperate to make matters worse, for what can only be their own geo political interests. The idea that we can destroy these countries, deposing leaders who, for all their faults, created stability, were tolerant of all religions, leading to the takeover by Islamic State militants who immediately embarked upon killing sprees and terror against all who were not considered suitably devout, and not bear responsibility when the victims of this terror flee to countries they consider safe is naive at best. I am afraid that the truism, 'You break it, you own it' applies here. We can't say we weren't warned.

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