(VOVworld) – Europe has completely failed in its response to the migrant crisis. In an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi commented on the registration and quota of migrants in the EU.
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Migrants from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan rest on the ground while waiting to be registered in the registration camp in the south Serbian city of Presevo, Serbia, February 1, 2016.
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He notably pointed the finger at an EU deal struck last summer on sharing out some 160,000 refugees, and which has gone nowhere ever since. Only 583 "relocations" have actually gone ahead due to foot-dragging by certain countries, notably in the continent's east. Mister Grandi also warned against European countries closing their borders which would de-facto block many refugees, already in distress, in Greece. He called on European countries to work together to deal with the migrant crisis.
The police chiefs from five countries on the migrant route through southeast Europe announced an agreement on Thursday for a joint refugee registration point at the Greek-Macedonian border. Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria will jointly profile and register migrants from war-torn countries and then organize their “controlled transport” through to Austria.