In the summer of 2015, there was a surge in the number of people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking asylum in Europe.

Social Democrat politician Aydan Özoğuz was Angela Merkel's minister of state concerned with immigration, refugees and integration from 2013 to 2018. She describes to Josephine McDermott visiting her father's home city of Kilis in Turkey, near the Syrian border in 2015, where refugees were being sheltered.

And she recalls the motivation for Mrs Merkel's decision to suspend the EU's Dublin Regulation which temporarily allowed free passage for Syrian asylum seekers, but drew opposition from critics.

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(Photo: A migrant from Syria holds a picture of Angela Merkel as he arrives at a railway station in Munich. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules

Witness History

Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules