Germany Show Solidarity, To Accommodate More Asylum Seekers

Posted by African Examiner Europe, Latest Headlines, World News Tuesday, September 8th, 2015

By Ayo Balogun – In what appears like a display of unrestricted solidarity, the German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, has declared that the country will accommodate not less than 500,000 asylum-seekers for several years.

Gabriel who announced that Germany expected more than 800,000 asylum-seekers, which is four times more than 2014 figure, called on other EU states to share in the current burden.

Germany has been playing host to a horde of desperate immigrants from Syria, despite many difficulties being encountered at EU borders. The journey took another passionate dimension last Sunday, when some German activists volunteered vehicles to convey the immigrants from Austria after hours of trekking from Budapest Hungary, to Western Europe.

Meanwhile, the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR), has confirmed that a total of 7,000 Syrian refugees have arrived Macedonia Monday alone, while another 30,000 desperate settlers were on Greek Islands.

The surging influx has created friction in some European governments, forcing diversed measures and responses.

In Hungary, the Government has mounted a border fence to check further entrance of the immigrants. In contrast, German politicians have expressed pride in the Germans who turned out to welcome the settlers.

A Greek Minister alarmed Monday that the country’s Island of Lesbos, which sits off the Turkish coast, was “on the verge of an explosion” following a build-up of 20,000 migrants struggling to make it to the EU mainland.

In order to effectively manage the crisis, Greek Government and UNHCR have brought in extra staff and ships to ferry the migrants.