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Roundup: Tackling refugee crisis needs European solidarity: Juncker

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

"We Europeans, we must all keep in mind that Europe is a continent where everyone at a given time was a refugee," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said during his first State of the European Union address to the European Parliament here on Wednesday.

Juncker called on Europe to accept its responsibilities and face the migration situation together, saying: "It's a question of human dignity. We cannot let Greece, Hungary and Italy face the refugee crisis alone."

"We have the means to aid those who flee war and oppression," Juncker said, despite increasing divisions in Europe during recent months regarding how to respond to the migration crisis.

"It is true that Europe cannot accept all the misery of the world but it is necessary to put things in context: the refugees which are arriving represent only 0.11 percent of the population of the EU," he argued.

"Rules and the common criteria exist but these norms must be applied in a full and complete manner and this is not the case," he added, specifying 30 actions of noncompliance with the rules which were launched.

After inviting the Members of European Parliament (MEPs) to applaud "the Herculean efforts of Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon," Juncker said he was "encouraged since certain member states are now making greater efforts for the resettlement of migrants."

The European Commission will present a refugee relocation mechanism for 160,000 people to an emergency meeting of EU internal affairs ministers by Sept. 14.

"It is time to instigate a more fundamental change to the manner by which we deal with asylum. Solidarity must be anchored in our rules. The member states must reexamine their integration policies and allow asylum seekers to work," he said.

The president said he was in favor of a common policy to organize border controls, the reinforcement of Frontex (the European border control agency) with the aim of creating a European coast guard, the opening of channels for legal migration, and a Europe stronger in foreign policy.

Juncker touched upon the situation in Greece, Ukraine, and Britain, as well as the economic, social and fiscal situation in the EU, and climate change.

"We don't live in the best of worlds. It would be better if we were better. Let us not give up, let us continue," he added. Endit