Merkel to the refugee crisis: “Simple foreclosure will not solve the problem”

In a 40-minute speech to the Lower House of Parliament, Dr Merkel stressed her commitment to her disputed refugee policy, saying Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, has a duty to protect those fleeing war and conflict in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. “But simply sealing ourselves off will not solve the problem”.

According to French police, two killers of the Paris attacks have seized the opportunity of the migrant flux to travel through Europe and reach Paris, Valls noted to justify his firm position over the current migration crisis.

But Mr Valls was sceptical of the prospect of welcoming more refugees.

Manuel Valls said stricter control of the EU’s external borders would determine the bloc’s fate, in comments.

“If we don’t do that, then the people will say: Enough of Europe”, he said.

His briefing to lawmakers was made without previous consultation with coalition partners the SPD Party ad Merkel’s own CDU. “It was not France that said ‘Come!”, the French prime minister said in an apparent reference to Germany’s decision to open its borders to refugees last September.

Germany has come under increasing pressure from other European Union countries in recent months over its acceptance of vast numbers of asylum seekers.

De Maiziere recalled that when he served his previous term as interior minister from 2009 to 2011, Germany had almost 40,000 asylum seekers per year. “We expect those who are denied asylum after the normal civil procedures leave the country so those who need our protection can get it”, she said.

The government also wants to be able to deport applicants from Pakistan and several African countries using this document.

She lamented Europe’s “near obsession with electronic mass surveillance”, and said that more human intelligence is needed on the ground. The crisis has called into question a central pillar of the European Union – the freedom of movement of people – as well as the Schengen borderless agreement and the Dublin rules, which say migrants must be processed at the point of entry.