German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has warned of a larger influx of refugees than that seen in Europe in 2015. He made the statement during an official visit to Greece.

Traveling with incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Seehofer also said the EU had to do more to support Turkey so that refugees did not attempt the often dangerous crossing to Greece.

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"We have to help our European partners even more in patrolling the EU's external borders; we have left them alone for too long," Seehofer told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, referring not only to Greece but also to Spain and Italy. "If we don't, we will once again see a refugee wave like in 2015 — maybe even greater than four years ago."

Seehofer said Europe had to avoid a crisis for which it was unprepared, as it had been in 2015. He clarified that he had "the full support" of Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he has publicly differed on refugee policy in the past.

Seehofer: Turkey needs more help

In a separate interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Seehofer also said the EU had to do more to assist Turkey in dealing with the millions of refugees that have entered the country since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.

"Turkey is doing a great deal in welcoming refugees," Seehofer said. "It is also in our interests, but it is clear that we cannot manage the future with the resources of the past."

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In 2016, the EU agreed to give Turkey €6 billion ($6.59 billion) in aid for projects devoted to Syrian refugees. However, since then, Ankara has been accused of not sticking to its side of the deal to take back asylum-seekers.

During a two-day trip this week, Seehofer traveled to both Turkey and Greece, where he held talks with government representatives, hoping to broker a strong deal on refugees and border controls.

The deadly Evros River borderland Dangerous crossing The Evros River, which is the natural land border between Greece and Turkey, is one of the most notorious border crossings. Over the years, thousands of people have died there trying to cross into Europe.

The deadly Evros River borderland The morgue To date this year, 29 people have been discovered dead at the Greek-Turkish border along the river. Due to the rising number of people that are found, the International Committee of the Red Cross has donated a fridge container for the dead. There are currently 15 bodies at the morgue. The most recent case was a 15-year-old boy.

The deadly Evros River borderland International help The International Committee of the Red Cross donated one fridge container to the hospital of Alexandroupolis as the morgue did not have the capacity to keep the rising number of dead refugees who are discovered in the Evros region.

The deadly Evros River borderland Looking after the dead Hunters, fishermen or the authorities that patrol the area usually discover the bodies at the river. When someone is found, the police are the first to arrive in order to investigate the scene and take photos. The dead then are taken to the morgue where the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, looks for identification marks such as tattoos or other personal items, and takes DNA samples.

The deadly Evros River borderland Cause of death According to the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, the main cause of death among refugees who are discovered at the Greek-Turkish border is drowning. "70 percent of deaths are caused by drowning followed by hypothermia. Lately we have been noticing a rise of deaths as a result of road and train accidents," he told DW.

The deadly Evros River borderland Personal items Coroner Pavlos Pavlidis keeps the personal items that belonged to refugees who have been found on the river's banks in plastic bags to help with the identification process.

The deadly Evros River borderland A tough but necessary job It's a painstaking process to mark and bag the personal items of the dead refugees. "The items we come across most are objects that are not usually destroyed by water," Pavlidis said.

The deadly Evros River borderland Lost rings The most common personal items that are found on the bodies of refugees are jewelry such as rings, necklaces and generally metal objects. "Clothes and official documents such as passports are usually destroyed by the water," Pavlidis said.

The deadly Evros River borderland Death and religion Religious items, from various religions, are also very common discoveries on those who are found on the Evros River. Once someone is identified, their personal items are returned to their family.

The deadly Evros River borderland Rest in peace If someone is identified, their body is returned to their family. If not, after a few months, Greek authorities arrange the buriel either at the Muslim cemetery in the village of Sidiro, or at the Christian cemetery of Orestiada. The gravestone above reads: "He remains — Our beloved whom we lost, Mustafa Rahwan — Aleppo Syria, 1983-2014." Author: Marianna Karakoulaki (Alexandroupoli)



Finding a solution

Seehofer had said earlier that Germany would take in a quarter of all asylum-seekers rescued while attempting the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the EU.

The statement attracted sharp criticism from some of Germany's Christian Democrats and the Free Democrats (FDP), who said that the proposal could draw even more migrants to Europe.

But EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos rejected the criticism. "I disagree," Avramopoulos told the Funke newspaper group. Seehofer's proposal should not be seen in isolation from all other asylum-related efforts in the EU, said the commissioner.

"Our primary goal is to reduce irregular arrivals, fight smugglers and facilitate the repatriation of irregular migrants — and save lives as well as open legal channels for those in need of protection," he said.

Avramopoulos says he's confident that a solution can be found during the meeting of the EU interior ministers on Tuesday. "I sense there is momentum. More and more member states recognize that there must be predictable, temporary arrangements for the accommodation of asylum-seekers after their disembarkation."

sri,es/ng (AFP, dpa)

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