Politics

Madeline Albright: Illegal Immigrants Are A ‘Burden’ [VIDEO]

Steve Guest Media Reporter
Font Size:

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright suggested that the immigrants flooding Europe are a “burden” to the country to which they emigrate.

Albright, who served under Bill Clinton, appeared on CNN’s “New Day” Monday and said “it’s important for the Europeans to see it as an issue for all of them and to be able to deal with it in a very rapid way so you don’t see the kinds of things we’ve been seeing on television and people just being treated as if they weren’t human.”

John Berman: The European Union planning an emergency meeting to deal with the huge migration crisis within its borders. More than 340,000 migrants have reached the E.U. this year alone. Some of them refugees, some simply in search of a better life. To talk about this and also another major issue right now in this world, the Iran nuclear deal, we’re joined by former Secretary of State and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Madeline Albright.

Madeline Albright: Great to be with you.

Alisyn Camerota: Thank you for being with us. Let’s talk about the migrant crisis. There are some countries such as Hungary that has erected a barbed wire fence to keep out the thousands of migrants that have been, there has just been a deluge in to some of these E.U. countries. What is the answer?

Albright: I think it is one of the great tragedies of our time. I was a refugee. I clearly didn’t have such a tragic story but I know what’s it like to have to leave your country because you can’t live there anymore. And I’m really surprised at how difficult this has been for people that are trying to get across and erecting barriers and making it more complicated is, certainly adds to the tragedy. There are more refugees in the world today than at any time. And we have to be able to deal with it. I have heard that the Europeans have called an emergency meeting. I hope that they are really seeing it as an emergency and are really making plans to try to distribute the burden. Because it is a burden when people come into a country and that, in fact, they figure out a way to make Europe what it should be in the 21st Century; is a welcoming place for those who can’t live where they want to.

Camerota: But Secretary, is it fair for countries like Hungary to have to absorb all the people and the services they would require?

Albright: Well, I think that’s why there has to be an all European plan. And frankly, one of the countries that had the hardest time with this is Greece because they’re right there, and also some of the other countries in the Balkans. And it does have to be distributed. And I do think that’s why it’s important for the Europeans to see it as an issue for all of them and to be able to deal with it in a very rapid way so you don’t see the kinds of things we’ve been seeing on television and people just being treated as if they weren’t human.

Follow Steve on Twitter