The refugee crisis in Europe is a crisis not because of the number of refugees, but because of Europe’s failure to respond to it in a coordinated fashion, the UN refugee agency said.
“In our view, European countries need to work together rather than point fingers at each other … Europe should open more legal ways for refugees to come,” William Spindler, senior spokesperson of the UNHCR, told Al Jazeera.
“The UNHCR is urging European countries to provide more places for refugees through resettlement programs, family reunification, humanitarian admission, private sponsorship schemes and work and education visas.”
The UN’s comments come after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. At least 25 people were confirmed dead out of an estimated 600 people on board.
The UNHCR said more than 224,000 migrants and refugees had arrived in Europe in the first seven months of the 2015, exceeding the 219,000 that had made their way to the continent a year ago.
