European leaders struggle over deep splits on migrant crisis efforts - washingtonpost

BRUSSELS — European leaders, gripped by a refugee crisis that has laid bare bitter divisions in their continent, agreed Wednesday to bolster their borders and increase aid to the refugee agencies stumbling under the burden of helping millions of people displaced by the war in Syria.

The commitment to devote at least $1.1 billion to fend off an escalating flow of refugees was a rare moment of unity for the squabbling 28 nations, but it was a sign that the one thing they could agree on was to keep people far from their borders. The emergency powwow came a day after an rare decision by Europe’s most powerful nations to override four holdout Central European countries and impose quotas for taking in asylum seekers.

“If we don’t fight the root causes of flight, then people will say, and a very large number will say, that they want to resettle in places that offer more security to them,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the meeting, which stretched nearly seven hours. 

But E.U. leaders left many decisions to be made at their next summit Oct. 15. If asylum seekers keep arriving at current rates, that meeting will come after an additional 132,000 people reach Europe’s shores. - Read More

European leaders struggle over deep splits on migrant crisis efforts
The Arab world’s wealthiest nations are doing next to nothing for Syria’s refugees