Europe is at bursting point as an apparently unending stream of migrants fleeing war and terrorism in the Middle East continues to fill the continent.
This was the stark message delivered by European Council President Donald Tusk before the leaders of the world's major powers at the end of the G20 summit in China on Monday, The Christian Post reports.
"The practical capability of Europe to host new waves of refugees, not to mention irregular economic migrants, is close to limits," Agence France Presse quoted Tusk as saying.
Noting that some 65 million people have been displaced from their homes worldwide, Tusk urged world leaders to take responsibility and help those who are most in need.
He called for financial assistance and development aid for the countries where these migrants originally came from, pointing out that "only global efforts will be able to bear fruits."
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama supported Tusk's call for global cooperation to deal with the refugee crisis, saying that the global community, including America, will have to step up and help Europe deal with this crisis.
He also made special mention of Turkey which, he said, is playing a major role in easing the crisis. "Turkey hosts more refugees than any country in the world, and it has been a key partner in providing aid and assistance to vulnerable citizens that have poured out of Syria as well as Iraq," Obama said during his meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"This is not an issue in which Turkey should be carrying the burden alone," the American president added. "It needs support from all of us, and we intend to provide it."
The G20 group later released a statement declaring that the world leaders have agreed on the need to share the burden in dealing with the refugee crisis.
"Worldwide massive forced displacement of people, unprecedented since the Second World War, especially those generated from violent conflicts, is a global concern," the leaders said at the end of the gathering in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
The group also reiterated the call from last year's summit in Turkey for "global concerted efforts in addressing the effects, protection need and root causes of refugee crisis to share in the burden associated with it."
