“In regard to the announced numbers [of up to 60 million refugees around the world], we cannot say that this is a challenge for Germany or for Europe, this is a global challenge,” Merkel said during a parliament session.
She added that the number of refugees has never been larger since World War II.
“We’re talking about 60 million people throughout the world,” Merkel added.
Migration Crisis Can be Solved by Working with US, Russia, Middle East
Uprooting the reasons for the migration crisis is possible only with the participation of the United States, Russia and the countries of the Near and Middle East, Merkel said.
First Step Accomplished in Distributing Refugees, Problem Yet Unsolved
The European Union has made its first step in solving the issue of fairly distributing refugees but the problem is far from being resolved, Merkel added.
“We’ve made the first step, but the problem is far from being solved,” Merkel said.
Merkel said that Germany supports the European Commission’s proposal of using quotas for taking in refugees for all of the EU member states.
“We need a fair distribution of refugees,” Merkel added.
Earlier on Thursday, EU leaders agreed to allocate at least $1.1 billion to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and other countries in the region through UN programs.
The European Union is currently struggling with the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, as hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from crisis-torn countries of the Middle East and North Africa seek a safe haven in EU countries.
Russia is expected to join the migration debate at the 4th International Parliamentary Forum held in October with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and parliamentary leaders from abroad.
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