Prague, Sept 14 (CTK) – Refugees who are flowing to Europe deserve help, former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Frederik Willem de Klerk said in an interview with CTK and public Czech Television (CT) yesterday.
De Klerk, who takes part in the Forum 2000 conference that has started in Prague yesterday, said Europe should perceive the current refugee influx not only as a problem, but also as an opportunity to get new labour force.
He said he is of the view that the suffering refugees who had fled their countries must be helped in harmony with humanity.
Some four million illegal immigrants live in South Africa now, he recalled.
De Klerk said he was convinced that the migration crisis would not have a quick solution.
However, much more emphasis should be put on aid to the countries around the areas of war conflicts, such as that raging in Syria, in particular Turkey and Jordan. Considerably more refugees are living in very difficult conditions in these countries than the number of those heading for Europe, he added.
De Klerk, who along with Nelson Mandela helped remove apartheid from South Africa, said he can see a possible opportunity for European countries in the current huge migration wave since they needed foreign labour force due to their own population decrease to preserve their high economic level.
De Klerk, who stresses that migration is definitely not only a European issue, noted that balance must be sought in the dealing with the situation.
He said did not agree with the opinion saying European countries had a moral duty to open their borders to all who wanted to settle down in them. They should also protect the interests of their inhabitants who have been living there, he noted.
De Klerk (in office 1989-1994), 79, was the seventh and last head of state of South Africa under the apartheid era. He gradually abolished the discriminatory laws, released Mandela, president of the African National Congress (ANC) party, from prison and in June 1991, he announced the official end of the apartheid regime, which was introduced in 1948.
In 1993, de Klerk was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Mandela, who replaced him as head of state a year later.
hol/dr/rtj
