Refugee crisis will feature at G20 leaders summit

The unprecedented migrant outflow from the Middle East and North Africa will feature high on the agenda at a summit of the world's top 20 economies in November, a Turkish minister said on Saturday.

"The refugee issue is more about geopolitical risks and the humanitarian matters caused by them," Deputy Prime Minister Cevdet Yilmaz said after a two-day conference in Ankara of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs.

"It will definitely be dealt with at the leaders' level politically," he said.

Turkey, the G20's president this year, will host the summit in Antalya on November 15-16.

Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of people seeking a haven, many of them from war-torn Syria.

The crisis has split the 28-nation European Union (EU). Germany is leading calls to take in more refugees while newer members led by Hungary are opposing plans for mandatory quotas.

Yilmaz said resolving the problem would eventually have a positive impact on global growth and employment.

"Economy and politics are closely related," he said.

Turkey is hosting some 1.8 million refugees from the Syrian crisis and has repeatedly accused Europe of failing to pull its weight.

The lifeless body of a three-year-old Syrian boy washed ashore in the Turkish southwest holiday resort of Bodrum this week triggered grief around the world.

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde said her organisation would help as much as it could.

"I think it is everybody's concern and everybody's business and it cannot be left to just one country because it happens to be nearby," she said.

"It requires a coordinated approach and probably an innovative solution as well."
Source: AFP