French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday offered his backing to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a bitter row with her interior minister over her liberal immigration policy.

"Countries are committed to the paths taken by their heads of state or government," he told reporters.

"Germany also has a head of government," he said of Merkel, saying it was she who was "responsible before her people and her parliament".

His comments come as Merkel's Interior Minister Horst Seehofer openly challenges her over Germany's immigration policy after welcoming more than one million people fleeing war and poverty since 2015.

Merkel's welcome to refugees infuriated Seehofer and his CSU, the sister party of her Christian Democrats in the southern state of Bavaria, which became the main entry point for most migrants.

In an unprecedented split between the CDU and CSU, Seehofer has openly defied Merkel with a demand to allow border police to turn back migrants who lack valid identity papers or are already registered in another EU country.

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Landslides kill 12 as monsoon batters Rohingya refugees
Dhaka (AFP) June 12, 2018
Landslides triggered by monsoon rains killed at least 12 people Tuesday in Bangladesh near camps housing one million Rohingya refugees, officials said. Aid agencies have been warning of the potential for a humanitarian catastrophe over the coming months as heavy rains lash an area home to the world's largest refugee camp. Most of Tuesday's victims were buried under mud when surrounding hills gave way after a deluge. Eleven people died in Naniarchar including a family of four, while several p ... read more