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Poland to take over 2,200 refugees: PM

Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz announced on Monday that the country would accept 2, 200 asylum seekers.

She said that "the decision on the new number will be based on responsible calculations on how many we are able to accept."

Kopacz expressed her support for further development of the EU programs designed to better relocate the refugees.

She emphasized that "now, we are not talking about the economic migrants that is the ones who look for work. We are talking about these, who risk their lives and personal security in their kin states - in Syria and Eritrea."

Kopacz statement contributes to the debate about how to deal with the EU quotas, which oblige 28 EU member states to accept asylum seekers in numbers proportional to their respective unemployment rate, population and the size of their economies.

The EU policy on quotas was announced in June and July 2015 and dealt with the distribution and relocation of over 60, 000 immigrants and asylum seekers, including 20,000 people staying in the refugee camps outside of the EU.

A number of Polish politicians and governmental institutions have expressed their views on the quotas, including Secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Rafal Trzaskowski, who announced on Aug. 25 that Poland would not agree on the EU quotas on distribution of the asylum seekers from Africa and Middle East.

As argued by Trzaskowski, "Poland fully supports prompt implementation of the EU policy on asylum seekers. However, Poland will not agree on changing the rule of accepting them from the voluntary to mandatory one, defined by quotas."

Trzaskowski emphasized that Poland wishes to continue the implementation of the EU immigration program for years 2015-2017, but Polish decision on accepting asylum seekers would depend on Polish economic growth and development. Endit