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Migrant quotas to encourage people smugglers: Slovak minister

Xinhua, June 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Migrant quotas give the green light to people smugglers to receive money and bring as many migrants to the EU as they can, said Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak on Friday.

He made the remarks after meeting former United States Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff in Bratislava on Friday, calling such a move "dangerous."

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the GLOBSEC 2015 global security forum, Kalinak said the quotas that the European Commission is seeking to introduce are no solution to the problem.

He said efforts need to be focussed on addressing the issue in the countries where migrants originate.

According to Kalinak, Europe has given up on protecting its southern border and is failing to address the root of the problem.

"We need to step in where the wave comes from. Because the only ones who leave have the money to pay the people smugglers, and how about the poor ones who remain there? So, we don't care about those?" he asked.

Chertoff, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security between 2005-09, backed Kalinak's stance that the core of the issue needs to be addressed. Enditem