German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Europe to unite to help refugees and fight terrorism. Merkel made the statement at the annual conference of her rightwing coalition partners, the Christian Social Union.
At the CSU party conference on Friday, Merkel called the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees “perhaps the biggest challenge we have had since German unification”, AFP reported.
The CSU has led criticism of Merkel’s asylum policy, and many had expected the chancellor to defend her decision to allow Germany to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts this year .
Defend them she did, although she appeared to give several verbal concessions to the CSU’s calls for a less-open door.
“No one leaves their home lightly, not even those who come to us to pursue a better life economically, who cannot stay with us here, who do not require protection,” Merkel said, referring to so-called economic migrants.
To scattered applause, Merkel added that “we will have to return them, we will have to deport them, even if it can be done with a friendly face.”
