Improve lives instead of building walls: Merkel's jibe at Trump

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said during a state visit to Mexico that countries should focus on improving life for people fleeing their homes rather than building walls.

Merkel spoke yesterday in response to a question about migration. She was speaking of Europe's handling of migrants from Africa and Syria, but coming in Mexico the parallels to US President Donald Trump's call to wall the entire US-Mexico border were unavoidable.

Merkel has been an outspoken advocate of more generous migrant policies in Europe. She says countries must work against what causes people to abandon their homes.

The US Congress denied Trump's initial request of USD 2.6 billion to begin building a stretch of border wall. His first full budget requests USD 1.6 billion for about 74 miles of new and replacement wall.
READ MORE