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Increased Migration May Put Sсhengen in Question - Latvia Interior Ministry

© REUTERS / Panu PohjolaAsylum seekers queue up as they arrive at a refugee reception centre in the northern town of Tornio, Finland, on Friday Sept. 25, 2015
Asylum seekers queue up as they arrive at a refugee reception centre in the northern town of Tornio, Finland, on Friday Sept. 25, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The future of the Schengen Area is likely to be called into question if the migrant inflow is not reduced by the end of the year, Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis.

RIGA (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma said Latvia would accept its first refugees under the EU-proposed quota system in January 2016.

"In fact, the greatest achievement — free movement — would stop existing. It does not mean that we will not be able to go anywhere, it just means [things] will be as in the past, and border controls will be restored," Kozlovskis told Latvian State Television in an interview.

Refugees wait in a crowded migrant registration center in Passau, southern Germany, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 - Sputnik International
Germany May Call Retired Soldiers Back to Duty Amid Refugee Crisis

Earlier in the week, Maira Roze, the deputy head of Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, said the country had received 317 asylum claims in 2015. According to Roze, 43 and 71 asylum seekers arrived in Latvia in September and October, respectively.

According to the EU border agency Frontex, over 1.2 million illegal crossings have been documented at EU borders since the beginning of 2015.

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