Slovakia would never refuse to accept Muslim refugees, we do not divide people by faith!

Slovakia has no problem with solidarity and protecting people in need. However, past experience shows that refugees do not want to come and stay in Slovakia. They are determined to go to Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and other countries, writes Miroslav Lajčák, Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, for the BiH news agency Patria.

We need a complex and sustainable solution, and quotas are only one part of it.

They will not stop the arrival of migrants. They will not stop migrants from dying in trucks and boats. They will not stop smugglers from doing their dirty work by exploiting human suffering. They do not increase protection outside the EU borders.

They will not reduce the attractiveness of the generous asylum system in some EU countries, which are the desired destinations for migrants.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Very little has been done since June to address the migrant crisis, and almost nothing has been done to prevent it.

While everyone was on vacation, the crisis worsened, people continue to die at the hands of cruel smugglers, and the number of refugees only grows.

Everyone points fingers and criticizes us, asking why we don't take refugees, but no one talks about how to deal with this issue in a sustainable and complex way.

No one talks about how to stop smugglers, how to prevent desperate refugees from dying in closed trucks and boats.

This is an unprecedented challenge and the biggest problem for the EU today.

We see only individual approaches but not a common approach in the EU.

We must discuss openly and honestly how to deal with this problem in all its aspects.

We practically no longer have Schengen; thousands of people cross outside the EU borders without control, without checks.

Do our intelligence services and security agencies coordinate enough to detect and dismantle smuggling networks?

There have been no discussions so far on how to better protect outside the EU borders, how to reduce the attractiveness of the asylum system.

QUOTAS

So far, we have only seen an obsession with talk about quotas, and they are only a small part of the problem, not the solution.  

What do quotas mean? They raise more questions than answers. Who chooses the allocation of refugees? Who will be responsible to ensure they do not migrate further? How to ensure this?

Quotas are not the end of the story; they are just the beginning of the story: how to integrate refugees and what if more decide to come?

So far, quotas are just a symbol. First, we talked about about 40,000 refugees in Italy and Greece, and today that number is several times higher, there, in Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Austria, Germany.

SLOVAKIA

I reject the objections that Slovakia is not ready to show solidarity.

How will we keep them in Slovakia? They do not risk their lives to stay in Slovakia or Estonia.

The only tangible result of the quota concept in Slovakia so far is the unification of the far-right.

We are ready to provide financial, material, personal resources and help strengthen outside the borders and contribute to a sustainable and complex solution to the problem.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS MUSLIMS

I have never said that Slovakia would not accept Muslims, and Slovakia would never do such a thing to people in need, but in general. We do not discriminate or divide people based on age, gender, nationality, or religion.

Each person's asylum application is processed in accordance with European rules, which we fully respect. Through previous conversations, we have received information from the refugees themselves that they do not want to come and stay in Slovakia, but that they want to continue their journey immediately towards Germany, Sweden, Great Britain.

We have said that when taking in refugees, we should consider the fact of whether they want to stay here and if they have a chance to integrate in Slovakia.

From this point of view, integration is easier for people if they belong to the same religion. Historically and culturally, there is no significant Muslim community in Slovakia, no mosques, no demographic or religious infrastructure for easier integration of Muslims in Slovakia.

That is the only reason why the Government has stated that the integration process in Slovakia would be easier for Christian refugees.

But we would never discriminate or refuse help to people in need solely on the basis of their religion or nationality.