Merkel’s migration policy targeted

Washington, June 19: US President Donald Trump has attacked the German government’s approach to immigration, as he comes under pressure over his own crackdown on migrants. Trump said German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition looked “tenuous”.

Merkel is in the middle of a serious domestic row after defending her government’s immigration policy.

Meanwhile, Trump has adopted a highly criticised “zero-tolerance” approach, which has split families crossing the Mexican border.

That position has been condemned by many, including former First Lady Laura Bush - wife of Republican ex-president George Bush - who wrote about it in the Washington Post newspaper, reported BBC.

“(Trump’s) zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote, citing stories of children held in detention centres.

In a series of tweets, the President defended his stance. “We don’t want what is happening with immigration in Europe to happen with us!” he said.

Meanwhile, Merkel is in a migration dispute with her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.

On Monday, Seehofer gave her two-week ultimatum to come up with a European Union (EU)-wide deal on migration, or he will start turning away migrants at the border - a move that could destroy the fragile coalition. (IANS)