Germany Braces for Refugee Surge as EU’s Crisis Shifts
Sudanese refugees gather at a camp at Weissekreuzplatz in Hanover, Germany, on Aug. 17, 2015.
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Germany may receive as many as 800,000 people fleeing war and poverty this year, about quadruple last year’s number, as Europe’s refugee crisis forces policy makers to shift attention from Greece’s debt woes.
With Syria and the Balkans accounting for most of the increase, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Wednesday almost doubled its estimate of the inflow of asylum seekers and refugees compared with projections in May. All European Union countries need to help stem the crisis, said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who presented the numbers.