Merkel: No legal limit to Germany's asylum seekers

Source: New24, 05/09/2015

Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that her country
won't stop anyone from seeking asylum, as thousands of migrants
desperate to leave Hungary made their way westward to Germany and
Austria.


German officials recently predicted that up to 800 000 migrants would
arrive by the end of the year, many of them refugees fleeing war and
persecution in Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.


"The right to political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum
seekers," Merkel told the Funke consortium of newspapers in an
interview.


"As a strong, economically healthy country we have the strength to do
what is necessary" and ensure every asylum seeker gets a fair hearing,
she added.


But Merkel repeated her government's position that migrants who don't
meet the criteria for asylum need to be returned to their home
countries.


Struggling to meet demand
Even prosperous Germany has struggled to meet the demand for
additional housing for the tens of thousands of migrants arriving
monthly.


Merkel said her government wasn't planning to raise taxes to pay for
the additional cost. But her governing coalition will be meeting on
Sunday to discuss how best to cope with the migrant influx.


Germany's willingness to help migrants has contrasted starkly with
other European governments, such as Hungary and Britain. This stance
has added to the desire among many migrants to strike out for
Germany.


Merkel said it was touching to see hundreds of migrants chanting
"Germany, Germany" at a railway station in Budapest earlier this
week.


"This wasn't always the case, but I still have to insist on a fair
distribution of the burden across all of Europe," she was quoted as
saying.


Reception centres
Germany and some other European countries have called for the creation
of special reception centres in Italy and Greece, where migrants can
stay while their asylum requests are processed.


Merkel said that would prevent the uncontrolled entry into Europe of
people who might pose a security threat.


"Only this way can the security agencies check whether they have
information about certain people," she was quoted as saying.


Merkel said she was confident Europe would meet the challenge.


"This should be possible, because Europe is based on common values,
and help for those in need of protection is one of them," she said.