As Germany continues to struggle with the refugee influx, a Catholic Church leader has said that the ongoing humanitarian crisis should "not solely be a matter of charity but also reason."
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, told the Passauer Neue Presse daily that Germany must be able to control the number of migrants seeking asylum because it is impossible for the country to "accept all the world's needy.''
"As a church we say that we need a reduction in the number of refugees. The question of taking in refugees involves not only compassion but also reason,'' Cardinal Marx said, according to Rawstory.
Marx, however, argued against the restrictions of the right to asylum, noting that "everyone who enters Europe should be treated fairly and with dignity,'' the report said.
He also criticised the German right-wing anti-immigrant AfD (Alternative for Germany) party for its stance towards refugees. "It is unacceptable and inhuman to suggest shooting at unarmed refugees. Parties that suggest such ideas are no alternative for Germany.''
AfD party chairwoman Frauke Petry earlier said that border police "should be able if need be to have recourse to their firearms — as laid down by law."
Earlier German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the E.U. to provide better protection for its external borders in order to cope with the refugee crisis and maintain the passport-free Schengen zone.
"We need to protect our external borders because we want to keep Schengen,'' Merkel was quoted by Reuters as saying in her weekly radio statement.
She also once stated that the solution to the refugee crisis could be found in cooperating with Turkey.
A meeting had been set on Monday between Merkel and Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu reportedly to tackle the issue of refugees and draft a resolution to the crisis that would including putting an end to people trafficking.
More than a million asylum seekers have arrived in Germany 2015, and Berlin has yet to give an official estimate for how many it expects this year.
