Migrant crisis: European Union ministers discuss quotas

European interior ministers return to the table in Brussels on Tuesday afternoon for another round of talks on the deeply divisive issue of migration quotas. After last week’s meeting, Luxembourg’s Jean Asselborn, who is minister for immigration and asylum as well as being foreign minister, told reporters that such a majority existed, but diplomats said using it to impose the plan on unwilling countries would be politically unwise. The United Nations refugee agency was assisting, and Red Cross volunteers were arriving to help.

The European Union’s 28 interior and justice ministers are to meet in emergency session in Brussels today to try to decide where migrants in Greece, Italy and Hungary can be moved to.

“The fact that in many cases the number of refugees to take in is very similar to the numbers proposed by the Commission is a pure coincidence”, noted another European Union diplomat.

Mr de Maiziere said his initiative does not question that, and people who do seek asylum in Germany would still have their application examined.

Beyond the improbability of European-funded refugee camps in Africa – there is no indication that African nations would approve such a plan – the inhumane impulse propelling the EU’s lack of response is indefensible. “Imposing a quota would be, in my view, against European principles”, Schetyna said.

“Most migration to Europe and the OECD still occurs through legal channels and is managed in an orderly fashion”, the report says, adding that public policies need to support the integration of immigrants and their children. After the quotas were filled, he said refugees should be rescued but then removed from Europe and sent to off-continent safety zones.

His plan, however, appeared to divide the German government.

German chancellor Angela Merkel identified as on the rivals on Sunday to acknowledge shared responsibility and accountability.

Since it closed its borders to Serbia last week, neighboring Croatia has seen a huge influx of around 30,000 refugees, many of them seeking to pass through to Slovenia and from there to Austria and Germany. After resting a few hours at an aid station – where local volunteers offered food, drink and new sneakers – the bedraggled travelers continued walking to the train station. – Johannes Hahn, Austrian official Hahn referred to as Germany’s withdrawn invitation a “big geopolitical mistake”, & stated it isn’t truthful to blame Balkan nations for border control, whether or not too lax or too heavy-handed. The wave of asylum seekers crossing into eastern Austria would be at Germany’s door by Monday afternoon.

One implication is that states are spending far more resources on processing perhaps one million asylum applications each year, than they contribute to supporting the tens of millions of refugees worldwide; their number is the highest for at least 25 years. Most of the migrants hope to reach prosperous Germany or Sweden.