France will take ONLY 30,000 refugees

Paris, Sep 25 (IANS) French Prime Minister on Friday said that the country will not take in more that 30,000 asylum seekers in the next two years.

“France has proposed to welcome 30,000 refugees. It won’t be more,” the prime minister said during an interview with state-run France 2 TV channel.

According to Valls, it is necessary to implement “hotspots” in Greece and Italy which are struggling to cope with thousands of migrants seeking to cross into Germany, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a recent report on migration, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said more than one million people are seeking refuge in Europe this year with up to 450,000 expected to obtain the status of a humanitarian migrant and eventually settle down in the continent.

More than 330,000 migrants arrived by sea in Europe in the first eight months of 2015, including 210,000 in Greece and 120,000 in Italy, it added.