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Russia, France lambast German chancellor’s refugee policy

Refugees gather upon their arrival at the transit center for refugees near a Macedonian village before continuing their journey to Serbia, February 12, 2016. ©AP

Russia and France have criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door refugee policy, saying the strategy is a “total failure” and not sustainable in the long run.

“It’s quite simply stupid to open Europe’s doors wide and invite in everyone who wants to come to your country,” Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev said in an interview with the leading German language business newspaper Handelsblatt.

“European migration policy is a total failure, all that is absolutely frightening,” he added.

Medvedev further noted that he attaches “great value to humanity” and wants “to help refugees” displaced by conflicts in their homelands

He warned, however, that “among these people, there are also many, perhaps hundreds, or even thousands, of thugs who have come to Europe on a ‘countdown mission.’" 

"Now, they wait to be called and then they will act like robots against Europe,” Medvedev said. 

Refugees disembark from a ferry at the port of Piraeus, Greece, on February 10, 2016. ©AFP

Echoing Medvedev’s comments, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls highlighted “the limited capacity not just in Germany, but also across Europe, to receive newcomers.”

“This policy, which is justified temporarily, is unsustainable in the long term,” he told German regional media group Funke, Valls on Friday.

“We have to say this clearly: Europe cannot take in all migrants from Syria, Iraq or Africa. It has to regain control over its borders, over its migration or asylum policies,” the French premier added.

The continent is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.

Some 1.1 million asylum seekers entered Germany last year, sparking heavy criticism of Merkel’s policy for the inflow.

On January 30, Merkel defended her refugee policy, arguing that asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq would go back home once the conflicts there end.

“We need ... to say to people that this is a temporary residential status and we expect that once there is peace in Syria again, once IS (Daesh) has been defeated in Iraq, that you go back to your home country with the knowledge that you have gained,” she said.

A child walks in a migrant camp in northern France on February 11, 2016. ©AFP

This is while observers say major European powers are to blame for the exodus as their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in those regions, forcing more people to flee their homes.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with AFP released on Friday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Europe itself is at fault for the influx.

He also called on Europe’s governments “which have been a direct cause for the emigration of these people, by giving cover to terrorists in the beginning and through sanctions imposed on Syria, to help in making the Syrians return to their country.”

“When the cause of this suffering is the terrorists, … and when one cause for migration is the almost five-year-old embargo against the Syrian people, naturally my, and every Syrian official’s first task is to fight terrorism essentially using Syrian capabilities, but also using our friends’ support in the fight against terrorism,” he said.


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