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          EU to Hold Extraordinary Talks on Response to Migrant Crisis

   by Chris Hannas

   The interior ministers of Britain, France and Germany have called for
   urgent action to address the challenges of thousands of migrants
   flowing into Europe, which has divided European nations as they debate
   how to respond.

   Ministers Theresa May of Britain, Bernard Cazeneuve of France and
   Thomas de Maiziere of Germany issued a joint statement Sunday asking
   current European Union president Luxembourg to hold a meeting within
   two weeks.

   Luxembourg said it will convene the talks involving home and justice
   ministers from EU member states on September 14 in Brussels in order to
   "strengthen the European response."

   Labeling the situation as "exceptional," the ministers called for
   better processing of migrants in Italy and Greece, which the
   International Organization for Migration says are the main landing
   points for more than 322,000 migrants who have crossed the
   Mediterranean this year.

   The system would identify those clearly in need of protection due to
   the situation in their home country, as well as determining a list of
   "safe" countries to protect refugees and ensure the safe return of
   those denied asylum.

   A majority of those fleeing to Europe have come from parts of the world
   wrecked by years of war and political instability.  According to the
   IOM, the largest populations arriving in Greece and Italy came from
   Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Nigeria.  Humanitarian officials have
   stressed the desperation of those populations to meet their basic
   needs, saying they have little choice but to leave their home countries
   or the neighboring nations that have struggled to cope with absorbing
   the millions of refugees

   But while some European leaders have advocated a more welcoming
   approach, others have not embraced the influx of migrants.

   Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban says he is taking a
   hard line on migrants because he says they pose a threat to European
   security, prosperity and identity.  Hungary is building a four-meter
   fence on its southern border with Serbia in an effort to block the
   migrants from reaching the EU, which allows passport-free passage among
   its 28 member nations.

   Macedonia declared a state of emergency earlier this month in response
   to daily border crossings from Greece of some 3,000 migrants pushing
   toward western European countries.

   On Sunday, some 500 migrants boarded a train that leaves twice a day
   from the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija headed for the northern
   border where they can cross into Serbia.  From Serbia, as the migrants
   continue on their Balkan route to western Europe, the next country is
   Hungary.

   Hungary requires the migrants to be fingerprinted before entering
   temporary camps, causing concern for some.  Mark Kekesi, a volunteer
   with the advocacy group Migrant Solidarity said the migrants "are
   afraid of the Hungarian fingerprint regime because they are well aware
   of the fact that if their fingerprint is recorded in Hungary, then
   legally there is the opportunity for any western European country to
   send them back to Hungary."

   Hungary has become a bottleneck on the journey to the more affluent
   western European countries because it has been holding on to the
   migrants, even when western European countries have said they are
   willing to accept thousands.  Germany says 800,000 migrants could
   settle there this year, way more than a year ago.

   More than 2,400 people have drowned while trying to cross the
   Mediterranean this year, and authorities expect those tolls, as well as
   fatalities from land smuggling, to increase.

   Pope Francis on Sunday decried the deaths of 71 migrants in an
   abandoned truck in Austria, calling it an offense against "the entire
   human family."

   "We entrust each of them to the mercy of God," the pontiff said in
   Rome, calling on world leaders "to cooperate with effectiveness to
   prevent these crimes."

   Meanwhile, Hungary said it has arrested a fifth suspect, a Bulgarian,
   on suspicion of human trafficking in connection with the deaths of the
   71 migrants, whose bodies were found in a refrigeration truck left
   behind on a highway. Three other Bulgarians and an Afghan had already
   been arrested.

   On Friday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "horrified and
   heartbroken" by the latest migrant deaths, both on land and at sea.

   In a rare statement issued directly under his name, Ban said the
   conflicts and repression that force people to flee their homelands must
   be resolved.  He called on European governments to offer "comprehensive
   responses" aimed at expanding "safe and legal channels of migration"
   that also demonstrate "humanity and compassion."

   He also said the migrant tragedies require "a determined collective
   [European] political response."

   Ban said he plans a "special meeting devoted to these global concerns"
   on September 30, during the annual General Assembly of world leaders at
   U.N. headquarters in New York.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-to-hold-extraordinary-talks-on-res
   ponse-to-migrant-crisis/2938992.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-to-hold-extraordinary-talks-on-response-to-migrant-crisis/2938992.html