White House: Europe has capacity to deal with migrants’ crisis

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Friday 04 Sep 2015 - 13:36 Makkah mean time-20-11-1436 Josh Earnest (Google image) Washington (IINA) – The United States stands ready to offer some assistance to European nations dealing with a surge of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa, but the White House stopped short Thursday of offering to take in more migrants from the region, DPA reported. "There is capacity in Europe to deal with this problem," said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. Asked whether the U.S. would take in more migrants from the region, Earnest said he has no announcement to make, but pointed to 4 billion dollars in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees from the U.S. since 2011. The United States was ready to offer its technical experience, including US Coast Guard knowledge, to European nations, he said, without providing specifics. He noted the desperation of those fleeing violence and instability and called on policymakers not to "lose sight of the humanity of these people." He pointed to the US' own experience dealing with migrants, including many families and children travelling alone, who fled violence in Central America last year. The U.S. welcomes a European Union meeting on the crisis set for later this month and efforts to crack down on smugglers and others who prey on migrants, he said. AB/IINA