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[Tak3n]

that is a lot of money to turn down, so applaud them for their principals, but disagree with them that the EU should just be a open door for all the migrants (Germany is to blame for all this rush to Europe) and had Merkel been sensible with her words, things might of been different

Medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says it will no longer take funds from the European Union in protest at its migration policy.
MSF singled out the EU's deal with Turkey under which Turkey agreed to take back any migrants who crossed the sea to Greece in smugglers' boats.
The number of migrants - many from war-torn Syria - to Europe is at its highest level since World War Two.
The charity received $63m (£44m) from the EU and its members last year.

Is the deal working?
The EU-Turkey deal came into effect on 20 March.
Migrants arriving in Greece are now expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or their claim is rejected.
For every Syrian migrant sent back to Turkey, one Syrian already in Turkey will be resettled in the EU.
A month into the arrangement, EU officials said it had begun to produce results.

More than 50,000 refugees remain stranded in Greece, housed in old factories, warehouses and tents, often in dire conditions. The EU's relocation policy - the idea that these people will be distributed fairly across the continent - is barely functioning.
Desperate, with no prospects, some groups of refugees have even decided to return to Syria, considering they might have a more viable future there.
However, it is the long-term effect of the policy that MSF is worried about.
Mr Oberreit highlighted Kenya, where the government recently cited European migration policy to justify its decision to close the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, in order to send its residents back to Somalia.
And it seems the EU is modelling its future migration policy on the Turkey deal too, offering aid funding to several African countries in order to stop the flow of people leaving - what Mr Oberreit calls the EU buying its way out of its responsibilities and values.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36558694

 

[Wafflecakes]

Seems like a poor strategy. "Oh no... you won't take our free money?" isn't likely to convince the EU to change policies.

As you said though. You have to admire their principles, even if their strategy sucks.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Do people still believe people rush here because Merkel told them to? Is there anything corroborating that claim.

 

[dalin80]

Face, nose, spite...

Just something pops to mind.

 

[Tak3n]

Do people still believe people rush here because Merkel told them to? Is there anything corroborating that claim.

 

[MUnited83]

Seems like a poor strategy. "Oh no... you won't take our free money?" isn't likely to convince the EU to change policies.

As you said though. You have to admire their principles, even if their strategy sucks.

To be fair, it's not like MSF is hurting for money.

 

[Henkka]

I don't know about this. Will probably do nothing to change EU policy, and that money could've been used to help a lot of people. Hopefully EU gives that money to some other charity rather than just sitting on it.

 

[TatteredHat]

So don't then, plenty of other things to spend it on. The EU does in fact not have the responsibility of taking care of the potentially endless stream of refugees in the world.

 

[FoxSpirit]

Seems like a poor strategy. "Oh no... you won't take our free money?" isn't likely to convince the EU to change policies.

As you said though. You have to admire their principles, even if their strategy sucks.

As a big supporter of MSF, I can't agree. 44 million that will now not go go helping people. How many lives could have been saved with this? Sorry to say, but taking a stance should come in a reasonable fashion and inconvenience those who have. This is taking a stance on the back of the poors and havenot. Ask anyone whose child will now not get a necessary treatment because of this if he supports the stance.

This is not U2 cancelling a concert in protest. This is hubris. This is a sign of a organization whose upper echelon is already detached from what 44 million mean in their context.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Yes that's the route but they wanted to go to Germany long before she uttered those words.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Migrants arriving in Greece are now expected to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or their claim is rejected.

Am I missing something here or is this pretty reasonable? Apply for asylum when you get in a safe country, which Greece is, and then go from there.

The EU should do more to help Greece, but the policy they have running now doesn't seem so bad to me.

And if you have people leaving Greece now because it is not what they expected, where are they going to? Back to Syria? Doesn't seem that likely to me, so wouldn't those be people who would be rejected anyway?