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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 21 OctOber 2022
Germany, EU push to curb migration via Balkan route

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER figures, there were 12,720
Associated Press cases in September alone,
BERLIN (AP) — Germany on more than twice as many
Thursday hosted a meet- as a year earlier, dpa re-
ing with representatives of ported.
the European Union and Austria, the Czech Repub-
several European countries lic and other central Euro-
including from the western pean countries have also
Balkans in an effort to curb reported increased entries
migration via the so-called of migrants and asylum
Balkan route. seekers.
“We want to protect the Almost 135,000 people
people who flee to us from had applied for asylum in
war and political persecu- Germany in 2022 by the
tion,” German Interior Min- end of September. That is
ister Nancy Faeser said. around a third more than in
“At the same time, we the same period last year,
also take decisive action according to the Federal
against irregular migration Office for Migration and
... our declared goal is to Refugees. However, it’s
reduce the rising irregular still a far call from 2015-16,
migration via the western when more than 1 million
Balkans route.” migrants, mostly from Syria,
In recent months, an in- Firefighters extinguish the fire in a hotel where refugees from Ukraine were accommodated in Iraq and Afghanistan ap-
creasing number of mi- Gross Stroemkendorf, Germany, Thursday, Oct.20, 2022. A fire has almost completely destroyed plied for asylum in Germa-
grants have been trying to a shelter for refugees from Ukraine in the municipality of Groß Strömkendorf in Mecklenburg- ny.
Western Pomerania on Thursday night.
reach wealthier western Associated Press The figures for asylum ap-
European countries via plications in 2022 are much
the Balkans, often paying tenegro and North Mace- from India, Tunisia, Moroc- 24, the government has re- lower than the total num-
smugglers thousands of eu- donia all of which want to co and elsewhere. These cently struck a much more ber of refugees because
ros (dollars) to take them join the 27-nation bloc with people often use Serbia hostile tone regarding mi- Ukrainians can enter Ger-
across borders without val- EU standards, combating as a loophole to enter the grants from more distant many without a visa and
id travel documents. trafficking of migrants, en- continent and continue parts of the world. do not need to apply for
The package of measures suring effective border pro- from there to the west. By the end of September, asylum.
that western European and tection and speeding up While Germany has wel- Germany’s federal po- Migration expert Gerald
EU officials pushed for at deportations. comed more than 1 million lice had registered almost Knaus expressed doubt
the Berlin meeting include Especially Serbia has been Ukrainian refugees mostly 58,000 unauthorized entries whether officials’ attempts
aligning the visa policies of pressured by EU countries women and children who at the country’s borders to prevent migration to the
western Balkan states Ser- to restrict its lax entry poli- entered legally since Rus- mostly in the east, where EU via the Balkans would
bia, Albania, Bosnia and cies and no longer allow sia attacked the eastern the Balkan route ends. curb the current influx.q
Herzegovina, Kosovo, Mon- visa-free travel for citizens European country on Feb. According to preliminary

New Zealand farmers hit streets to protest cow-burp tax plan

By NICK PERRY should be able to recoup 10 million beef and dairy from burping cattle makes We love our farms. That’s
Associated Press the cost by charging more cattle and 26 million sheep, a particularly big contribu- what annoys us. We’re
WELLINGTON, New Zealand for climate-friendly prod- compared to just 5 million tion. painted at these bad guys,
(AP) — Farmers across New ucts. people about half of all But some farmers argue but a lot of farmers have
Zealand took to the streets Because farming is so big greenhouse gas emissions the proposed tax would spent generations looking
on their tractors Thursday to in New Zealand there are come from farms. Methane actually increase global after that land.”
protest government plans greenhouse gas emissions He said the proposed tax
to tax cow burps and other by shifting farming to coun- didn’t take proper account
greenhouse gas emissions, tries less efficient at making of all the trees and brush
although the rallies were food. he and other farmers had
smaller than many had ex- At the protest in Wellington, planted, which helped trap
pected. farmer Dave McCurdy said carbon and offset emis-
Lobby group Groundswell he was disappointed in the sions. He said if the pro-
New Zealand helped orga- small turnout, but said most posed tax and herd reduc-
nize more than 50 protests farmers were working hard tions went ahead, it would
in towns and cities across on their farms during a spell be ruinous to many farmers.
the country, the biggest of good spring weather at “I’m out,” he said. “Waste
involving a few dozen ve- a particularly busy time of of time.”
hicles. year. Farming remains vital to
Last week, the government He said farmers were good New Zealand’s economy.
proposed a new farm levy environmental stewards. Dairy products, including
as part of a plan to tackle “It’s our life, our family’s those used to make in-
climate change. The gov- New Zealand farmers protest in central Auckland on government lives,” he said. “We’re not fant formula in China, are
ernment said it would be a plans to make them pay for greenhouse gas emissions, Thursday, out there to wreck it, we the nation’s largest export
Oct. 20, 2022.
world first, and that farmers Associated Press wouldn’t make any money. earner.q