The Zaev Government is admitting refugees from Afghanistan to dampen criticism about its high level of corruption, that is noted in American reports, said former VMRO-DPMNE official Ilija Dimovski in a Sitel TV interview. Zaev agreed to take on at least 650 refugees, and says that Macedonia is prepared to take many more.

The Government is now saying that we are preparing to offer work permits to the refugees. How is it possible when we have 29 percent youth unemployment, 10,000 companies were shut down in two years and 50,000 people lost their jobs. I think we are overextending ourselves for the Government to expiate its sins such as the crime and corruption noted by the US, Dimovski said, noting that much larger countries are agreeing to take just a token number of refugees.

A number of highly critical reports, issued by the State Department and Transparency International, pointed to the high level of unchecked corruption in Macedonia.