The European Union (EU) has been warned to expect millions more migrants from Syria. EU Council President Donald Tusk says that “according to Turkish estimates, another three million potential refugees” could come just from Aleppo – Syria’s largest city – and surrounding regions.
According to Radio Free Europe, President Tusk told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg today that “millions of potential refugees and migrants are dreaming about Europe.” His statements come one day after he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Brussels to discuss the issue.
President Erdoğan is in Brussels for a series of high-level talks with top leaders of the EU as member states struggle to cope with a deepening refugee crisis amid an unabated flow of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and most notably Syria.
Erdoğan first met with Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde at the royal palace, and held meetings with Martin Schulz, the head of the European Commission before his one-on-one with Tusk. Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Minister of EU Affairs Beril Dedeoğlu accompanied Erdoğan in the meetings.
Some two million Syrian refugees are currently living in Turkey. Tens of thousands of others have migrated to the EU via Greece in 2015.
President Tusk warned EU deputies that “the world around us does not intend to help Europe” and said some of the EU’s neighbours “look with satisfaction at our troubles.”
He spoke as the latest migrant routes into Europe were confirmed and, as Breitbart London reported, over 1,800 migrants were rescued from six vessels found adrift in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya.
Over half a million migrants and refugees have landed on Europe’s shores so far this year, according to the UN refugee agency. Some 2,980 people have perished or disappeared trying to make the crossing.
With files from AFP