French premier rules out hosting more than 30,000 refugees

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says his country would not host more than 30,000 refugees fleeing militancy in Syria and Iraq.

Premier Valls said on Thursday that his country “cannot welcome to Europe all those who flee” the ongoing conflict in Syria.

He also made clear that a certain number of refugees who wouldn’t be granted asylum would have to leave France. “Those [whose applications] are rejected have to be escorted back to the border.”

The European Union (EU) has recently adopted by majority a resolution to distribute some 120,000 refugees among the member states, much to the dismay of some Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia, who oppose the mandatory quotas in the sharing of the exodus.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned that Europe could expect a record one million people to request asylum this year. International organizations and rights activists and smaller countries within EU expect such countries as Britain and France to take greater responsibility in the refugee resettlement.

Germany unsatisfied

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an address to the country’s parliament on Thursday, expressed doubt that the recent plan adopted by the EU could resolve the crisis the continent is facing, saying the 28-nation bloc is still far from a durable solution.

According to a report by the Washington Post, Germany has been “the Western country most financially affected” by the crisis in Syria.

The government of Chancellor Merkel agreed on Thursday to give its 16 regional states around four billion euros (USD 4.5 billion) next year to help them cope with a record influx of refugees.

The move has prompted criticism by human rights activists and the United Nations (UN). Budapest has also passed a raft of new ant-refugee laws, including one that allows the imprisonment of those illegally crossing its border.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also mobilized soldiers and prison laborers to build a vast new barrier along its border with Croatia despite opposition from other EU countries.

Activists denounce rights violations against refugees

Meanwhile, over 600 international lawyers on Thursday signed an open letter to the EU, expressing “horror at the human rights violations being perpetrated against those seeking refuge.” They have also reminded member states of their legal duties toward asylum seekers.

“We note that all European states have obligations not only to refugees as defined under the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, but also to those protected against return under international human rights law and customary international law,” they wrote.

“We note that this broad duty of non-refoulement protects all those at real risk of serious human rights violations if returned. They should be afforded international protection. EU Member States have further obligations under EU law,” the letter further read.

Syria has been facing a foreign-backed militancy since 2011. The Takfiri militants, who currently control areas across Syria as well as northern and western Iraq, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, displacing millions of people.

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