Germany can take in half a million refugees annually for the next few years, says vice chancellor

IN PHOTO: Syrian refugees transport small stones for their tents at Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, on Sept. 15, 2014.REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

Germany said it can welcome 500,000 Syrian refugees every year for several years, putting pressure on the United Kingdom to willingly receive more than 4,000 as it has promised.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel believes other European countries should act fairly as he is confident that his country can cope with the annual influx of more than half a million sanctuary seekers for the next few years.

"I believe we could surely deal with something in the order of half a million for several years," Gabriel told German broadcaster ZDF on Monday, as reported in BBC.

The report continued on to mention that more than 800,000 refugees are expected to enter and be accepted into the country as the year ends. Germany has already received 35,000 during the first six months of 2015.

Just last weekend, the country took in about 15,000 asylum seekers.

In contrast, other European nations have not been as generous as Germany in terms of taking in civilians, who wish to depart from their Syrian homes to avoid the four-year-long civil war, and would rather invest in providing help to refugee camps set up in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon.

Gabriel urged other European countries to increase their efforts to tackle the migrant crisis, even though France and Britain, two countries that have been criticized for their insufficient efforts, promised to welcome thousands of refugees.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that her country's hospitality is something that people should take pride in; however, other leaders of European nations also blamed Germany as more refugees from Syria are encouraged to face the dangers just because the country's willing to accept them.

Meanwhile, it was reported by Reuters that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has come up with a plan to distribute refugees to different European Union (EU) member states.