海角大神

Germany's refugee count to reach 750,000 this year. Can the country handle it?

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says it鈥檚 time other European nations stepped in to ease the burden. 

Just two months after the German government predicted it would receive a total of 450,000 asylum seekers this year, officials say that number could as 750,000,聽聽according to media reports.聽

As the country continuously struggles to accommodate migrants from Syria and the Balkans, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres says to ease the burden, the BBC reports.

"It is unsustainable in the long run that only two EU countries, Germany and Sweden, take in the majority of refugees," Mr. Guterres told聽, with nearly 80,000 people expected to seek asylum in Sweden this year.

"All countries in Europe have the moral responsibility to welcome them and the clear legal obligation to protect them," Guterres added.

Yet of the refugees who reached the EU last year sought asylum in Germany, according to Deutsche Welle.聽

The country鈥檚 Federal Office for Migration and Refugees will release this year鈥檚 figures on Wednesday, estimating a dramatic increase in asylum applications surpassing the initial forecast of 450,000.

If the migrant population reaches 750,000, it would be a since Germany first took in refugees fleeing the Balkans wars in 1992, reports AFP.聽

But today Germany isn鈥檛 alone. The current refugee crisis has taken its toll on several host countries across the globe. As state authorities request more financial aid to cope with the influx, German Development Minister Gerd M眉ller called on the EU to spend 10 billion euros to help Syria鈥檚 neighboring host countries handle the surge in migrants.聽

鈥淚f we don't solve the problems locally, the problems will come to us," Mr. M眉ller told Die Welt on Monday.

Yet some problems have already started to surface in Germany.

Most German cities had reached the limits of their capacities this week, reports Deutsche Welle. As communities run out of housing options for asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed, many have resorted to keeping them in tents and military barracks.

Nevertheless, some have seen the refugee surge as an opportunity to revive the country鈥檚 economy. The head of the federal jobs agency has called for more funding from the German government to speed up migrants鈥� integration into the nation鈥檚 workforce.

But that plan has also led to attacks against asylum seekers by 鈥淕ermans troubled by the prospect of having to compete with refugees for state resources,鈥� writes 海角大神鈥檚 Chris Cottrell.

鈥淗ost towns across the country, from poorer eastern states to the more prosperous south, are seeing a flare-up of attacks against asylum seekers, their families, and the shelters that house them.鈥�

On Monday, angry residents threw firecrackers at an asylum seekers鈥� hostel in the northeast of Germany, the BBC reports. And thousands in towns and cities nearby have been holding demonstrations to protest the housing of asylum seekers in their areas, a trend they have referred to as the "Islamization of the West."聽

If other countries don鈥檛 offer their support, rising migrant numbers may become a tougher challenge for the EU than Greece鈥檚 debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Sunday.聽

Last month, EU member states agreed聽to take in arriving in Italy and Greece over the next two years. The move marked a step forward, yet fell short of the 40,000 target.

On Tuesday, Mueller echoed Ms. Merkel鈥檚 concerns and called for from the EU, claiming "the European Commission must switch immediately from vacation to emergency mode.鈥�