News / EU

Refugee influx into Europe organized invasion: Czech leader

Sunday, 27 December 2015 7:32 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 27 December 2015 7:32 AM ]

Czech President Milos Zeman ©AFP

Czech President Milos Zeman has termed the recent wave of refugees entering Europe in large numbers “an organized invasion,” calling on young Syrian and Iraqi men to “take up arms” against Takfiri terrorists instead of leaving their home countries.

“I am profoundly convinced that we are facing an organized invasion and not a spontaneous movement of refugees,” Zeman said in his Christmas message to the Czech Republic on Saturday.

He added that compassion was “possible” for refugees, who are old or sick and for children, but not for the youths who in his view should be defending their homelands against Daesh Takfiris.

“A large majority of the illegal migrants are young men in good health, and single. I wonder why these men are not taking up arms to go fight for the freedom of their countries against” Daesh, the 71-year-old president said.

Zeman added that the exodus of young Syrian and Iraqi men from their conflict-ridden countries only serves Daesh’s interest, and helps the terrorists tighten their grip on the two countries’ soil.

Asylum seekers and refugees enter the trailer of a truck on the site of the Eurotunnel in Calais, France, on December 17, 2015. ©AFP

Zeman’s remarks come as the Czech Republic is putting up fierce resistance to the binding EU quotas for taking in refugees, with a recent survey revealing that nearly 70 percent of Czechs oppose the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers in the Central European country.

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

The Czech leader’s comments come while many blame major European powers for the exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and wars, forcing more people out of their homes.

Asylum seekers and refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the town of Gevgelija, on December 4, 2015. ©AFP

Officials in European countries are struggling to forge a united response to the record numbers of refugees.

While a few European leaders support an open-door refugee policy, others are in favor of controlling European Union’s external borders. They are deporting more people and paying third countries to keep asylum seekers on their soil.

According to figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than one million refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year. More than 3,300 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

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