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France, Austria leaders vow to firmly fight migrants traffickers, protect borders

Xinhua, August 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

French President Francois Hollande and Austria's Chancellor Werner Faymann on Friday discussed, over phone talks, worsening migration crisis after Austrian police found 71 migrants dead in an abandoned freezer truck near the Hungarian border on Thursday.

Facing a surge in migrants escaping violence and war in their native countries and most of then ended up in the bottom of sea, Hollande and Faymann expressed determination to fight smugglers and protect borders.

In a statement released by the French presidency, both leaders urged the swift implementation of European Council's decisions, mainly to speed up the opening of care centers in Italy and Greece.

They also called for equitable distribution of refugees among the EU member states and accompany the illegal migrants while respecting their dignity.

French head of state and Austrian Chancellor pleaded for "a single European asylum system and a common migration policy," Hollande's office reported.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 300,000 people had crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe so far this year with 2,500 of them drowned in the sea. Endit