France and Britain announced their efforts to take in more migrants on Monday amid the surge of migrants coming to Europe seeking asylum.
French President Francois Hollande announced that his country would accept 24,000 migrants over the next two years. British Prime Minister said Britain will do the same with 20,000 refugees from Syria, giving priority to children and orphans, according to Associated Press.
The effort to accommodate for the migrant crisis has been spearheaded by Germany. It pledged on Sunday night that it would allocate $6.6 billion dollars for the purpose of providing asylum seekers with aid-- like housing and language classes.
However, Germany’s generosity has been met with criticism and hostility by European leaders and anti-migrant extremist groups within the country, according to USA Today.
European leaders’ criticisms revolve around the fact that the benefits Germany is offering migrants act as pull factors for asylum seekers to put their lives at risk to come to Europe. As a result, Germany announced on Monday that it would reduce cash handouts to asylum seekers.
“Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday in Berlin.
“We want to reduce the number of pull factors, and I think it’s a big step forward that we have consensus in our government to reduce the monetary benefits for those seeking asylum,” said Stephan Mayer, a German national lawmaker and home affairs spokesman for the Christian Social Union, according to Washington Post.
The United Nations' Refugee Agency (UNHCR) report reveals that the largest population of refugees seeking asylum in Europe comes from Syria.
"As of June 2014, the 3 million Syrian refugees now account for 23 percent of all refugees being helped by UNHCR worldwide," says a UNHCR mid-year trends 2014 report.
