The refugee crisis is continuing to unfold in Europe, and one thing world leaders made clear is they have no idea how to approach it.
Some politicians have handled the situation better than others; sure, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a Palestinian girl cry, but since then her country has shown more support for asylum seekers than any other EU nation.
But on the other side of the coin are several European figures who have made some outlandish comments regarding refugees, trying to justify harsh stances on accepting migrants or limitations depending on the asylum seekers' religious affiliation.
Here are the top three highlights.
1. A UK parliament member for Gravesham lamenting the fact that his barber, a refugee, returned to Iraq for a holiday. (That was later revealed by the Guardian to be untrue.)
“We have people in this country who have come here, have claimed asylum, and then they go back on holiday in the places they’ve claimed asylum from," Adam Holloway said. “I couldn’t have my hair cut the other day for that reason.”
2. Miriam Shaded, head of Polish charity Estera, said accepting Muslims would be a good way for Daesh (ISIS) to locate potential recruits in Europe. Shaded told The Financial Times Islam wasn't a religion but a totalitarian system that “deprives people from their freedoms" and acted as a huge threat to her country.
3. A common statement heard from countries that include Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Czech Republic and Slovakia is that Muslims would change the country's demography, jeopardize cultural cohesion and would also not "integrate" well with their society.
“We could take 800 Muslims but we don’t have any mosques in Slovakia so how can Muslims be integrated if they are not going to like it here?” Slovakia's interior ministry spokesman Ivan Netik told the BBC.
By Hayat Norimine
