Refugee crisis: Germany says it could take 500,000 people a year - live updates

Germany could take 500,000 people per annum for years

Germany looks set to take even more refugees, as its vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said it could take half a million people each year for “several years”.

“I believe we could surely deal with something in the order of half a million for several years,” the vice chancellor told ZDF public television, AFP reports.

“I have no doubt about that, maybe more,” the leader of the centre-left Social Democrats said, as Germany expects to receive 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, four times the 2014 total.
However, Gabriel stressed that other European countries must also accept their fair share as refugees keep fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa and head for the 28-nation EU.
“We can’t just take almost one million people every year and seamlessly integrate them” into German society, he said.
Germany would keep accepting “a greatly disproportionate share” among EU members “because we are an economically strong country, without doubt”, said Gabriel.
But it was unacceptable for the EU to keep relying on just a few countries, such as Austria, Sweden and Germany, he added, saying that “that’s why I am certain that European policy needs to change”.

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31m ago10:09

Tusk: Europe facing 'exodus'

Donald Tusk Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, has warned that Europe is facing the start of “a real exodus” of people.
In a speech at the Bruegel annual dinner in Brussels, he called for a response that the balanced solidarity with refugees and containment at Europe’s borders.
He said:

Today, it is truly a paradox that the biggest countries in Europe, like Germany and Italy, need solidarity from others.
At the same time we should seriously address containing the uncontrolled migration by strengthening the borders and getting the keys to our continent back from the hands of smugglers and murderers. The two approaches of solidarity and containment need not be mutually exclusive. It would be unforgivable if Europe split into advocates of containment symbolized by the Hungarian fence and advocates of full openness voiced by some politicians as the policy of open doors and windows.
Today, I call on all EU leaders to redouble their efforts, when it comes to solidarity with the members facing this unprecedented migratory wave. Accepting more refugees is an important gesture of real solidarity but not the only one. An enormous effort is also demanded of the European institutions. Humanitarian efforts to contain migratory flows will require much greater engagement from Europe. It means a major increase in spending. When we talk about new reception centres, better protection of the borders or development aid for the countries outside the EU, much more money will be needed ...
But let us have no illusions that we have a silver bullet in our hands to reverse the situation. The present wave of migration is not a one-time incident but the beginning of a real exodus, which only means that we will have to deal with this problem for many years to come. Therefore it is so important to learn how to live with it without blaming each other.
Also, we should not feel ashamed of our emotions. Compassion is one of the foundations of solidarity, but in order to be able to help others we ourselves must be pragmatic at the same time. We are now experiencing one of the most classical political dilemmas, that is a conflict between the protection of our borders and solidarity towards the refugees. Wise politics doesn’t mean having to choose one value over the other, but to reconcile the two to the degree possible. In this case pragmatism should be the First Commandment.