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               Merkel: EU Must Work with Turkey on Migrant Crisis

   by VOA News

   German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Europe must cooperate with Turkey
   to handle the migrant crisis; Western Europe's biggest influx of
   asylum-seekers since World War Two.

   Speaking to Germany's lower house of parliament Thursday, she said
   Turkey is a key transit point for most migrants moving west. She said
   Europe and Turkey must work together to improve conditions in the
   places where the migrants originate.

   Merkel is to attend a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels
   Thursday where they will discuss the migrant crisis.

   ''

   Last Saturday during talks with European Union partners, Greece pledged
   to open five migrant processing centers. Like Turkey, Greece is on the
   path for many migrants seeking to leave the Middle East and north
   Africa for better prospects in western Europe.

   Greece's first so-called "hotspot" reception center is expected to open
   within days in Mitilini of the island of Lesbos.

   Last week, the United Nations Refugee Agency welcomed EU efforts to
   support frontline member states receiving large numbers of migrants,
   but warned states not to turn "hotspots" into "detention centers in
   disguise."

   The wave of migrant and refugees continues, with hundreds taking the
   perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea every day.

   The 15-member U.N. Security Council has voted to authorize the European
   Union and other nations to board, search and seize vessels suspected of
   human trafficking in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/merkel-eu-must-work-with-turkey-on-mi
   grant-crisis/3007294.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/merkel-eu-must-work-with-turkey-on-migrant-crisis/3007294.html