Walls and violence will not solve migrant crisis - EU Commissioner

EU commissioner said that barriers are temporary solutions that only divert flows of refugees to other countries

BUDAPEST: The European Union's migration commissioner said on Thursday that barriers of the kind that Hungary has erected on its Serbian border are temporary solutions that only divert flows of refugees and migrants to other countries and escalate tensions.

An injured migrant carries a child during clashes with Hungarian riot police at the border crossing with Serbia in Roszke, Hungary September 16, 2015. Hungarian police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesting migrants demanding they be allowed to enter from Serbia on Wednesday on the second day of a border crackdown. PHOTO: REUTERS

"The majority of people arriving in Europe are Syrians in need of our help," Dimitris Avramopoulos told a joint news conference with Hungary's foreign and interior ministers.

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Tents of migrants are seen under the Charles de Gaulle bridge near the Austerlitz train station in the southeast of Paris, France, September 16, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

"There is no wall you would not climb, no sea you would not cross if you are fleeing violence and terror," he said. "We have a moral duty to offer them protection."