BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande called Monday for a “unified” response to the worst refugee crisis to hit the EU since World War II.
“We must put in place a unified system for the right to asylum,” Hollande said in a brief statement ahead of talks, calling the influx from the world’s crisis zones “an exceptional situation that will last for some time.”
Merkel, whose country expects a record 800,000 asylum applications this year, said Germany and France also wanted all EU members to conform with existing refugee policies governing the bloc “as quickly as possible.”
The German leader said she and Hollande were also in agreement that the EU must draw up a “unified” list of safe countries of origin to which asylum-seekers arriving in the bloc would be quickly returned.
Germany has been pushing for such a policy given the large portion of its asylum-seekers — 40 percent — coming from the Balkans.
Berlin argues that to help those from war zones such as Syria, Iraq and some regions of Africa, it needs to be able to filter out “economic migrants” more quickly.
Merkel reiterated that registration centers must be set up at the first ports of call in Greece and Italy to be administered and staffed by the EU as a whole by the end of the year.
“We cannot tolerate a delay,” she said.
Hollande underlined France’s “solidarity” with Germany in calling for a “fair distribution of asylum-seekers” within Europe as well as “the dignified return of people entering illegally.”
“There are moments in European history in which we face an exceptional situation — today, it is an exceptional situation but an exceptional situation that will last for some time.”
At least 2,000 more migrants entered Serbia overnight from Macedonia, which has declared a state of emergency over the massive numbers pressing into the country from the Greek border.
They are trying to reach Hungary, a member of the EU’s open-border Schengen agreement, which has already registered over 100,000 asylum seekers this year and plans to finish its anti-migrant fence on the Serbian border by the end of August.
Hours before the talks with French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned “vile” violent protests against refugees, as anti-migrant sentiment reared its head over the weekend in the eastern city of Heidenau.
“The chancellor and the entire government condemn the violent rampages and the aggressively xenophobic atmosphere in the strongest terms,” Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters after the clashes between police and far-right thugs protesting the opening of a new center for refugees.
“It is vile how right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis try to spread their hollow, hateful messages. Those who act like the aggressors of Heidenau place themselves far outside the law,” he said.
EU border agency Frontex said last week that a record 107,000 migrants were at the bloc’s borders last month, with 20,800 arriving in Greece last week alone.
With many seeking to cross into Macedonia from Greece, Skopje closed the border for three days and police used stun grenades and batons to stop hundreds of refugees trying to break through barbed wire fencing, before apparently deciding to let everyone enter.
Austria’s foreign minister Sebastian Kurz, who had traveled to the Macedonia-Greece border, called for an urgent new strategy to deal with the crisis.
“It’s a humanitarian disaster, a disaster for the European Union as a whole, and there is a pressing need for us to focus on the situation in the western Balkans,” said Kurz.
In Rome, Italian officials said the coast guard had rescued 4,400 migrants from 22 boats in the Mediterranean on Saturday alone in what was understood to be the highest daily figure in years.
“There has to be a new impetus so that what has been decided is implemented,” a source in the French presidency said, referring to EU decisions taken in June to tackle the crisis.
“The situation is not resolving itself,” the source said, adding that the decisions made by the EU “are not sufficient, not quick enough and not up to the task.”
With asylum-seekers coming not just from war zones such as Syria but also from countries without military conflict in southeastern Europe, including Albania, Serbia and Kosovo, calls are mounting for a more unified approach in dealing with the influx.
France and Germany are both urging Brussels to compile a list of countries whose nationals would not be considered asylum-seekers except in exceptional personal circumstances.
Merkel is also traveling Thursday to Vienna, where she will meet with leaders of Balkan states including Albania and Kosovo to find out why “so many thousands of people are coming from these countries,” according to Seibert.
France’s and Germany’s leaders will try to help fast-track the setting up of reception centers in overwhelmed Greece and Italy — two countries that have borne the brunt of the crisis — to help identify asylum-seekers and illegal migrants.
“As long as these reception centers are not there and there is no internal solidarity within the EU, the return of migrants — which will dissuade further new arrivals — will not happen,” the French source added.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned that the deepening crisis could pose a major threat to the “soul” of Europe.
“On immigration, Europe is in danger of displaying the worst of itself: selfishness, haphazard decision-making and rows between member states,” Gentiloni told Il Messaggero.
Beyond the migrant crisis, Merkel and Hollande will later Monday tackle another issue pressing at the EU’s eastern flank — the Ukraine conflict.
The talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko come amid a resurgence of violence in the former Soviet state.
Hours ahead of the talks, Poroshenko accused Russia of sending three military convoys over the border into the separatist-controlled east.
Merkel, Hollande urge ‘unified’ response to EU refugee crisis
Merkel, Hollande urge ‘unified’ response to EU refugee crisis
94 million need cataract surgery, but access lacking: WHO
- Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision
GENEVA: More than 94 million people suffer from cataracts, but half of them do not have access to the surgery needed to fix it, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Cataracts — the clouding of the eye’s lens that causes blurred vision and can lead to blindness — are on the rise as populations get older, with age being the main risk factor.
“Cataract surgery — a simple, 15-minute procedure — is one of the most cost-effective medical procedures, providing immediate and lasting restoration of sight,” the WHO said.
It is one of the most frequently performed surgeries undertaken in high-income countries.
However, “half of the world’s population in need of cataract surgery don’t have access to it,” said Stuart Keel, the UN health agency’s technical lead for eye care.
The situation is worst in the WHO’s Africa region, where three in four people needing cataract surgery remain untreated.
In Kenya, at the current rate, 77 percent of people needing cataract surgery are likely to die with their cataract blindness or vision impairment, said Keel.
Across all regions, women consistently experience lower access to care than men.
Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision.
- 2030 vision -
The WHO said that over the past two decades, global cataract surgery coverage had increased by 15 percent.
In 2021, WHO member states set a target of a 30-percent increase by 2030.
However, current modelling predicts that cataract surgery coverage will rise by only about 8.4 percent this decade.
To close the gap, the WHO urged countries to integrate eye examinations into primary health care and invest in the required surgical equipment.
States should also expand the eye-care workforce, training surgeons in a standardised manner and then distributing them throughout the country, notably outside major cities.
The WHO was on Wednesday launching new guidance for countries on how to provide quality cataract surgery services.
It will also issue guidance to help support workforce development.
Keel said the main issue was capacity and financing.
“We do need money invested to get rid of this backlog, which is nearly 100 million people,” he told a press conference.
While age is the primary risk factor for cataracts, others include prolonged UV-B light exposure, tobacco use, prolonged corticosteroid use and diabetes.
Keel urged people to keep up regular eye checks as they get older, with most problems able to be either prevented or diagnosed and treated.
The cost of the new lens that goes inside the eye can be under $100.
However, out-of-pocket costs can be higher when not covered by health insurance.
“Cataract surgery is one of the most powerful tools we have to restore vision and transform lives,” said Devora Kestel, head of the WHO’s noncommunicable diseases and mental health department.
“When people regain their sight, they regain independence, dignity, and opportunity.”
