Germany: EU Commissioner for migration visits German refugee centre

Dimitris Avramopoulos, EU Commissioner for migration, accompanied German Federal Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maiziere as they visited a refugee centre in Rosenheim, on Thursday. The pair spoke to refugees and examined the centre’s facilities. Germany has emerged as the priority destination for many Syrian refugees travelling to the EU after Merkel announced that the country would suspend the Dublin regulation, essentially granting Syrian asylum seekers special status. Authorities estimate that up to one million people could apply for asylum in Germany by the end of 2015. At a meeting earlier this week European leaders agreed to resettle 40,000 migrants across the EU, however they did not agree on redistributing 120,000 refugees as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had previously proposed.