German politicians blame West for being main cause of refugee crisis

German opposition politicians have blamed western countries for being the main cause of the current refugee crisis that Europe is grappling with.

Germany is bracing for an unprecedented influx of up to 800,000 asylum seekers this year as Europe deals with its biggest migrant crisis since the Second World War. A large part of the refugees that have arrived in Germany come from war-torn countries and crisis regions.

"Western countries under the leadership of the United States have destabilized entire regions by making terrorist organizations, among other things, possible and exploit them," said Sahra Wagenknecht and Dietmar Bartsch, deputy parliamentary group leaders of Germany's main opposition party Die Linke in a position paper due to be presented on Monday.

They said gangs of murderers, such as the Islamic State (IS), were indirectly supported and supplied with money and weapons by countries allied with Germany, which has brought millions of people into brutal wars and civil wars.

Wagenknecht and Bartsch urged the German government to ask the U.S. government to foot the bill for the crisis it has caused. Wagenknecht, regarded as one of the strongest opponents of military actions in Syria, also called on the German government to ask the U.S. to share the costs of taking in refugees, reported German media Spiegel Online on Sunday.

In addition, the two politicians called for an immediate end to German arms exports and for an increase of Germany's development aid as well as its contribution to the World Food Program, in a bid to address the causes of people fleeing war-torn countries. Enditem