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Refugees shouldn't be forced to register: Nordic leaders

Xinhua, October 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofvenon said here on Saturday that refugees should not be forced to register if they do not want to seek asylum in a country.

"You can not force people to seek asylum in a country if they do not want to," Lofvenon said at a press briefing after a joint Nordic leaders meeting hosted by Denmark.

"Therefore, there are people who have come to Sweden but further proceeded to Finland," Lofvenon added.

The refugee crisis is one of the topics that were discussed at the two-day meeting, also attended by Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Finnish Prime Minister Joha Sipila and Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.

The Nordic countries have seen a tense situation due to the streaming in of refugees and migrants.

The Swedish government has criticized Denmark over its handling of the situation, allowing refugees to further moving to Sweden without registering them locally. Sweden is the Nordic country to receive the most European refugees and migrants.

Rasmussen of Denmark said the Nordic leaders have discussed the refugee issue at the meeting, and there is no one who has anything to criticize each other.

"We have an obligation to the Dublin Regulation and Schengen Agreement, which we fully live up to," Rasmussen said.

"If you have met the conditions for obtaining asylum in Denmark, you get asylum," he added.

Meanwhile, Solberg said there is free movement of people within the Schengen area if they are not registered.

"The challenge is at the external borders," she said.

"There is no disagreement between us, even though we are all under the pressure of this situation," Sipila of Finland added. Endit