Off the wire
• Shanghai Pharma joins hands with Internet company to create better e-clinics  • Chinese holiday travelers rise  • 1st LD-Writethru: China stocks surge after holiday  • China congratulates Kyrgyzstan on smooth parliamentary elections  • Singapore stocks close 0.5 pct lower  • Guinea to close borders on presidential election day  • Israeli PM bars lawmakers, ministers from al-Aqsa mosque compound  • 22 craft villages showcasing traditional products in Vietnam's capital  • 52 Beninese pilgrims killed, 41 missing in Saudi Arabia stampede  • Learning Chinese brings more opportunities for young Rwandans  
You are here: 　 Home

Interview: "Extraordinary" refugee influx presents integration challenge: former EU adviser

Xinhua, October 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Europe is facing difficulties with the integration and assimilation of newly arrived refugees, a former senior adviser for the European Commission has warned in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency.

Etienne Reuter said the current crisis confronting Europe is "extraordinary" by the sheer scale of the number of refugees, mainly of Syrian and Iraqi origin, fleeing the atrocities of war and persecution.

He told Xinhua: "Faced with the enormity of this crisis and notwithstanding generally shared political commitment, it has become very difficult to find answers to the problems of the influx of refugees, the insufficient accommodation capacity and the difficulties of integration and assimilation in European countries."

Reuter said the difficulties of assimilating new arrivals have always existed, whether protestants fleeing France for German lands in the 16th century or the Hungarians fleeing their country in 1956.

"A message needs to be sent out to new arrivals, encouraging them to be aware of differences in religion and customs, but also a message of tolerance is needed from host communities," he added.

Central to the integration of refugees must be the opportunity for them to find work and earn a living rather than living on social benefits. "It is also a question of dignity," he said.

Europe is facing the largest wave of migration since the end of World War II. Considered a challenge for the Schengen area, the crisis has forced some members to introduce border controls.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, some 1.4 million refugees and migrants could try to reach Europe in 2015 and 2016.

"It remains true that this problem is enormous and we will be confronted by it for a long time," Reuter said.

Reuter is a lawyer by training and a specialist in European and Asian affairs. He founded Elliott Consultants in 2010, a Brussels-based consulting firm specializing in European and international affairs. Endit