MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — On Saturday, Hungary completed the construction of a 175-kilometer (108-mile) fence on the country’s southern border with Serbia to prevent the influx of migrants. Hungarian authorities said the erected fence would be accompanied by a more permanent 13-foot wall currently under construction.
"Refugees are in desperate need of safety and protection. Walls and fences will not deter them to travel onwards in order to find refuge and a decent future for them and their families. The result is that they will find alternative routes, but those routes will be just more and more dangerous," Fossi told Sputnik.
Europe is in the middle of a migration crisis, with thousands of people from the Middle East and North Africa trying to cross into the bloc. In an attempt to reach prosperous countries within the bloc, many undocumented migrants take risky routes, which has already resulted in a number of deaths.
"The current state of affairs shows that very often refugees are portrayed as a burden for political consent purposes. Populist politicians are on the TV screen each and every day. Reporting must be responsible and allow people to form their opinion on the basis of a fair and balanced information," Fossi said.
"Despite the fact that many consider Italy as a transit country and proceed onwards to other European States, unfortunately the public opinion is pretty unfriendly if not hostile towards them. They are scared and feel ‘invaded,'" Fossi said, adding that incorrect media reports fueled such hostile attitude.
Roots of the current refugee crisis lie with the extraordinarily high levels of worldwide displacement from wars, conflict, and persecution, according to Fossi.
"All Member States must approach the refugee crisis in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation and this includes support for equitable redistribution of refugees and asylum seekers across the EU," Federico Fossi told Sputnik.
Fossi emphasized that the current crisis was indeed global and grave in nature. He said it was triggered by extraordinarily high levels of worldwide displacement from wars, conflicts and persecution.
"It is clear that the current refugee crisis in Europe cannot be solved by any one country working alone… All European countries and the EU must act together and help those countries whose capacities are already overstretched such as Greece, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia," Fossi said.
UNHCR is currently providing practical aid to EU countries, deploying staff at key locations in the Western Balkans, including border areas, distributing food and water and providing shelters and sleeping mats, the spokesman noted.
