News / EU

Little more room left for refugees in Europe: EU official

Sunday, 04 September 2016 9:03 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 04 September 2016 9:03 AM ]

European Council President Donald Tusk (photo by AFP)

European Council President Donald Tusk says the European Union (EU) is almost unable to take in more refugees.

“The practical capability of Europe to host new waves of refugees… is close to limits,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Tusk, who was speaking in Hangzhou, China, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, urged other countries at the summit to take some responsibility in tackling the problem.

“The G20 community should scale up its share of responsibility,” Tusk said.

The G20 includes the EU, with 28 countries, in addition to 19 individual countries across the globe, namely, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Tusk told the G20 members that a collective effort is required to resolve the refugee problem.

“Only global efforts will be able to bear fruits,” he said.

Tusk has repeatedly in the past warned refugees and asylum-seekers not to head to the EU.

Nonetheless, refugees fleeing war and persecution in conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa have been flowing into the European continent over the past several years.

Many blame the West for the militancy and violence that has displaced millions of people in the Middle East, mainly Syrians, causing the huge refugee influx into Europe.

In March, the EU and Turkey signed a controversial deal aimed at stemming the flow of the asylum seekers to Europe. It has not officially been reported how and if the deal has managed to alleviate the European refugee crisis.

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