A top European Union official urged the United States on Thursday to accept more refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, saying that asylum seekers should not be equated with violent extremists.
Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU’s special representative for human rights, said that taking in more refugees would help ease the pressure on Europe, which is facing a massive refugee crisis.
“To the extent that we can all understand this global issue and share the responsibility, this will clearly alleviate the pressure on Europe right now and Greece in particular,” Lambrinidis said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“To our knowledge, there is absolutely no evidence in the case of the US, that giving asylum to people is opening the door to terrorists.”
The U.S. annually accepts 70,000 refugees from around the world. This group includes people fleeing violence, religious persecution and war. The Obama administration announced last year that the number of people invited to move to the U.S. as refugees would be increased to 85,000 in 2016, including about 10,000 Syrians.
Lambrinidis said that while it was important for authorities to be vigilant in screening migrants, the anti-refugee rhetoric that is on the rise in the U.S. and the EU is alarming and undermines the countries’ international obligations.
Europe has seen a rise of far-right parties fueled by the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks in European capitals. In the U.S., Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has called for temporarily barring Muslims from entering the country and refusing entry to Syrian refugees.
“The easy rhetoric, the populist rhetoric that we have in Europe or that you have here, that asylum means opening the door to terrorism is something that we have to nip in the bud in my view,” Lambrinidis said. “It’s extremely dangerous and it also endangers our obligation … under international law.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
NO to the refugees. We have enough FREE LOADERS.
The EU can go to hell
Lets first kick the U.N. out of the country!! Then cut off all aid to the U.N. ! And then tell E.U. you let them in you keep them!!
Uh, Guys…They’re NOT refugees; they’re invaders. It’s known as Hijrah, and the muslims have done it several times. Look up the word Hijrah.
It is erroneous to label some European nations as “far-right” in their major concern about the alarming number of refugees flooding their countries. The error lies in the need itself that the poor people of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and still other countries of the M.E. are experiencing. But, what is the real problem that is prompting these people to flee and to attempt to take up residence in regions that are foreign to their culture, which is to say, their language, religion, education, economy, social life, foods and any other element–certainly, climate–that forces them from their own way of life into that of another, without a home, food, clothing, schools, and so on? The answer is and should have preempted the refugee tragedy: the UN. Where is the UN? Where has it been during five years of disaster? Where are the blue helmets that fought in east Africa recently? and in still othe countries of Africa? We criticized the UN for not committing forces to Ruwanda-Burundi, to the genocide among the Hutu and Tutsis. Then they were committed to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
We pine for the “poor refugees” and they are indeed poor. They have abandoned every possession they have worked for in order to save themselves from the destruction of their land, and now the commentator who wrote the article above is bemoaning and begging for more help for the refugees? It is a tragedy of gigantic proportions that we are witnessing with our thumb in our mouth during this cost-ineffective event that is totally costly in both human and material ways, much costlier than creating neutral zones in their homelands, effected by the U.S.A. and Russia, until the peace talks come to a fitting end, until 100 rebel groups can agree with President Assad, and until the two superpowers can eradicate ISIS and al-Qaeda from earth’s surface, finally allowing the refugees to return to their shattered homelands, only to rebuild their once-thriving lands with the resources of…the UN, the one organ of the 21st century that might earlier have made a difference.
Leaders of the EU should demand that US leaders, NATO and Israel stop driving Arabs from their homelands. Arabs and the Moslem culture do not fit outside the Arab lands. Reversing the fraudulent landgrant of 1948, named “Israel”, would solve a world full of subterfuge and destruction. In a speech, Spring 2014, elderly Rabbi Henry Siegman revealed the sordid truth about the land-grant of 1948. Rabbi Siegman stated that the alias, Ben Gurion, initiated the genocide of Palestinians in 1948, in an effort to force closure on the land-grant. For the article, search the internet on the phrase, /prominent-jewish-leader-israel-intentionally-killed-civillians-1948-engaged-ethnic-cleansing.
Since when does the EU can or have a say in what the USA does. Look at what this has done to them.
Let the US citizens take a vote on more refugees and see how fast it gets voted down.
The EU demands that the U.S. take in more refugees………..I think not. We have enough illegals, refugees and the like in this country at the expense of taxpayers. Enough is enough and the EU needs to mind its own damn business. Believe me when I say we have more than our share of “free loaders” in our country and it’s got to stop.
I AGREE.
“…the anti-refugee rhetoric that is on the rise in the U.S. and the EU is alarming and on the rise…”
Golly gee whiz. I wonder why.
Since when do we have to follow International Law? I don’t think so! Look where this has gotten Germany and England! We are a smarter people than that and quite frankly we are tired of our leaders making bad decisions for us! Take a vote, and an overwhelming majority will say, they can stay in thei own country, we don’t need them sucking our economy any dryer than our own politicians are already doing! We The People!!!!!!
If any are allowed in they should be settled in Washington DC. That is where the problem was created.
We’ll pass. Europe can keep all these “peaceful” refugees on their continent.
Its time we realize this refugee problem was created for the purpose of establishing UN control over the US. I said this before Ovomit is the mouth piece that had been installed to push the UN agenda. To dismantal the laws of our land, demoralize, and divide our nation. He has imposed a new form of marxisum thru Obamacare. As well as his doctrine of redistribution. His role as a poser an chief is a joke on American people as, is the one bullet theory. History shows some of the greatest city’s had great walls to protect themselfs. Troy , Babalyon, destroyed by barbarian hordes that could care less about security, because of a pagan mindset. We have the will to end this immigration fiasco it is the right thing to do ,and must be done. America lead the world in humanitarian causes. The time has come to let the nations and Obama no Sharia law clock boy toting jack boot federal Gestapo can or will exist in our land for long. They can no longer take advantage of our generosity .nor will we allow our enemy’s to occupy our land. And abuse our people. What we see in Ovomit is a Traitor his compulsion for self hummilation is being forced on our country in every action he takes.
For his and the UNs agenda of turning the United States into a communist cestpool of gov. preverts, so it will fall thru corruption into the hands of NWO . So do not buy in to this socialism c—. Its communist doctrine at work. And if your stupid enough to vote for Hillary Sanders Cruz or tolerate another Ovomit in the white house. You will have had a hand in showing disloyalty to the hand that feeds you that you are a thief of bed you sleep in and the freedom you do not deserve. Vote Trump 2016 believe it.