Hollande, Merkel Call For EU Unity On Migrant Crisis

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on European Union countries to act together to tackle the migrant crisis.

In a joint address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 7, both leaders called for a revamped system for dealing with asylum claims.

The current rules require asylum claims to be lodged in the first EU member reached.

EU members have disagreed on how to deal with the arrival of more than 600,000 migrants to the bloc since the beginning of the year.

Germany has taken in far more migrants than any other European state, while others have refused to sign up to a quota system.

Hollande and Merkel said the only way to tackle the problem was for the EU to work together on trying to end conflict in the regions affected, on supporting countries like Turkey, which is currently home to 2 million Syrian refugees, and in providing a safe haven for refugees.

"We must not succumb to the temptation of falling back into national action. Quite the contrary, now we need more Europe," Merkel told European lawmakers.

According to Hollande, it would be a "tragic error" to back away from open borders.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and the BBC