The Wall Street Journal published an article on the refugee issue commenting on the decisions taken at EU Summit on refugee issue which was held in Brussels and stressed that Greece was set to become the crucible of immigrants and refugees.
Europe makes its last effort to control the influx of refugees and other migrants in its territory, Wall Street Journal mentions in its article commenting the outcome of the Summit on refugee issue.
Europe plans to create temporary shelters for 100,000 people by the end of the year along the so-called “Route of the Western Balkans” and half of them would be in Greece as WSJ reports.
The European Commission announced a €5.9 million emergency aid to Greece to help cover the cost, since most of the migrants land on Greek islands before heading to northern European countries.
However, the vast majority of the immigrants and refugees seeking refuge in Europe are determined to reach either Germany or Scandinavia.
“It is not surprising the EU wants Greece to prevent unorderly movements of people,” said Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch, an international advocacy group. But Greece “is still in an economic crisis and there is also the issue of people simply not wanting to stay. If these are open centers, there is a very high likelihood they will continue their journey,” despite the dangers of crossing the continent in the winter.
“The question is what to do with those people if they don’t want to stay in our countries. Will we put them in jail? I suppose not, and that is a key issue and problem for us,” Serbian Prime MinisterAlexander Vucic said Monday.
As WSJ reported, France and Belgium tried to help Germany by taking 1,250 refugees from German reception centers, but many soon returned to Germany without authorization.
However, as the article mentions, if EU’s plans fail, and Greece and the rest Balkan countries continue to let the migrants simply pass through, officials in Berlin and elsewhere warn that EU nations will resort to unilateral solutions: Building fences and closing borders, as Hungary has done which could lead to violence across the Balkans and the Aegean.
