Athens mayor rallies European cities to tackle refugee crisis

European cities are joining forces to tackle challenges arising from the continent's refugee crisis, in an initiative launched this week in Athens, through which hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have passed since the start of 2015.

Solidarity Cities, started by Athens Mayor George Kaminis, aims to get cities to work better together in addressing a wide range of practical issues from housing to integration.

"This is a European problem, you can't share the fundamental principles of the EU like solidarity and humanity and say 'not in my backyard'," Kaminis told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The move comes amid a climate of rising tension between newcomers and city locals across Europe.

Fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Burundi and South Sudan has pushed the total number of refugees to a record 21.3 million in 2016, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said...