France welcomes first refugees to ease pressure on Germany

France is due to welcome some 200 refugees on Wednesday, the first of 24,000 asylum seekers President François Hollande has pledged to take in over the next two years.

France is expected to receive around 1,000 refugees this week in an effort to ease the pressure on Germany, which has seen thousands of migrants cross the border from Austria in recent days.

The French Red Cross said they had been given refugee status by French authorities and would be crossing the border from Germany over the next three days.

Roughly half of the first 200 arrivals will be sheltered by the Red Cross in Champagne-sur-Seine, east of Paris.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls was due to chair a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to find housing solutions for the 24,000 refugees France has pledged to take in.

Several French mayors have offered to find accommodation for the refugees, though two have caused controversy by saying they would only take in Christians.

The remarks prompted swift rebukes from Valls and representatives of the French Catholic Church...
   france24.com
9/9/15
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• Choisir les réfugiés selon leur religion, une idée "contraire aux conventions internationales"... 

• French government condemns 'Christian refugees only' mayors 

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