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V4 group reject refugees redistribution quotas again

Xinhua, January 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

After a joint meeting of V4 Interior Ministers in Prague on Tuesday, Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said that the Visegrad Four (V4) group rejected again the mandatory quotas for the redistribution of refugees in a joint memorandum.

They said that the priority to solve the issue of illegal migration should be the opening of effective hotspots on the European Union (EU)'s external border. These so-called hotspots are supposed to serve also as detention facilities -- refugees would not leave until their identity is determined.

Chovanec said that the V4 consensus on the fact that illegal migration can be stopped only by the consistent protection of the EU external borders.

Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the functioning of the so-called hotspots based on the agreement previously reached on the EU level.

He said these hotspots have to operate as detention facilities where migrants' movement and freedom is restricted before their check is completed.

This opinion was also supported by his Slovak counterpart Robert Kalinak, who said it is impossible to fight against illegal migration without having to have them stay in detention facilities.

Kalinak also said that hotspots should avoid cases in which refugees are registered in different places under different identities or not being registered at all. This should reduce the risk of abusing false Syrian passport at the same time. Another function of hotspots is to differentiate between war refugees and economic migrants.

Interior Ministers of the V4 group made it clear at the meeting that their countries will take a united joint approach to the issue of migration in the future. In addition to effective hotspots, the V4 countries also support the creation of a joint European border guard and an effective return policy.

Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak pointed out that the essential prerequisite for Europe to cope with the influx of refugees is a change in the approach of the destination countries of migration.

He said it is unreasonable to think that they will cope with the situation unless the countries that are the migrants' destination countries change their policy.

Kalinak said most of the refugees are heading to Germany, and their destination countries are not V4 countries or southern EU countries.

The V4 group countries are Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Hungary was represented by its ambassador to Prague, Tibor Petoe, at the meeting on Tuesday. Endit