German Federal Minister of Interior Thomas de Maizere said Greece should keep the refugees, during a speech at a party rally in the Rhine region. He told the party supporters that Germany would help Greece, adding however, that Greece should also do her duty and stop the refugees from travelling to central Europe. Thomas de Maizere continued by arguing that Germany and Austria had received more refugees last year than Greece in proportion to the countries’ populations. Greece is estimated to currently have around 30,000 refugees and illegal economic immigrants on its soil, with thousands more crossing from the Turkish coast onto the Greek islands. This number is expected to rise substantially as the weather clears up in Spring and Summer.