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Some EU states failed to abide by commitments on refugees: Juncker

Friday, 15 January 2016 2:46 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 15 January 2016 2:47 PM ]

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gives a press conference at the European Commission in Brussels on January 15, 2016. ©AFP

A senior European Union official has expressed remorse over the failure of EU member states to settle the refugee crisis unfolding in the continent, saying such a situation may damage the reputation of the 28-nation bloc.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday that “a number of [EU] member states have failed to fully deliver on what we need to do and what needs to be done.”

He was referring, among other things, to an agreement reached last September on the relocation of some 160,000 refugees stranded in camps in two front-nations of Greece and Italy.

However, figures show that less than 280 refugees have managed to find a home outside the two countries. EU states, especially those in the east, have been reluctant to share the burden, saying the presence of refugees in their countries could seriously risk their security and economic welfare.

Juncker further rejected claims that the EU body under his watch, which serves as the bloc’s executive arm, has failed in its plans for the resettlement of the refugees.

He said it is unacceptable “that certain member states say they are not going to accept refugees in their countries,” adding that the reluctance has hugely distorted the image of Europe as a wealthy continent.

“Now we do appear as being the weakest part, and the poorest part of the world,” Juncker stressed.

A man reacts as he arrives, with other refugees, on the Greek island of Lesbos, on October 28, 2015, after crossing the Aegean from Turkey. ©AFP

The EU official criticized some major EU states for imposing new restrictions of the movement of refugees, saying such measures could seriously threaten the EU’s passport-free travel area, known as Schengen.

“Who kills Schengen will eventually put the internal market to the grave,” Juncker said, adding it would lead to “an unemployment problem which will not be manageable anymore.”

The EU is facing its worst refugee crisis in decades with more than a million estimated to have entered the continent in 2015 while a record number is expected for this year. This is while European countries remain divided over how to deal with refugees.

Most of the refugees are those escaping war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa with the ongoing foreign-backed militancy in Syria being a main source of the problem.

Many blame major European powers for the refugee crisis, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and wars, forcing more people out of their homes.

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