http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/world/europe/european-union-asks-member-countries-to-accept-quotas-of-migrants.html?_r=0
Europe
European Union Asks Member Countries to Accept Quotas of Migrants
By JAMES KANTERMAY 27, 2015
BRUSSELS — The European Union authorities appealed to the bloc’s
member states on Wednesday to accept quotas of migrants to relieve the
burden on southern states like Italy and Greece that are the main
landing points for the surging numbers of people crossing the
Mediterranean Sea.
The proposal by the European Commission, the Brussels-based executive
arm of the European Union, is a response to concerns that the bloc’s
southern coastal states could become overwhelmed by the inflow of
migrants making the dangerous crossing in often rickety and
unseaworthy vessels.
The recent deaths of thousands of migrants trying to cross the
Mediterranean prompted the bloc to draft the emergency response to
stave off a worsening of the humanitarian crisis.
But a large number of member states including Britain, the Czech
Republic, Hungary and Latvia have already pushed back against the idea
of mandatory quotas. In an effort to make the plans more acceptable,
the commission said any migrants who did not meet asylum criteria
would not be allowed to stay.
“Everyone who needs sanctuary should find it in Europe,” said Frans
Timmermans, the first vice president of the commission. “But those who
have no justified claim should be quickly identified and returned to
their home country,” he said.
The proposal for the quotas, which are expected to be high on the
agenda at a summit meeting of European Union leaders on June 26,
consists of two parts. The approval of a two-thirds majority of member
states under the European Union’s weighted voting system will be
needed before any mandatory rules take effect.
The British and Irish have the option not to participate in the
mandatory quota system under existing agreements with the European
Union, but others, including the Czechs and other Eastern and Central
Europeans, would need to try to mount enough opposition to block
approval. The Danes are exempted from participation in most European
Union asylum rules.
The first quota is an emergency plan to temporarily relocate 40,000
migrants arriving in Italy and Greece to other states across the
European Union during the next two years under a mandatory system.
Those migrants, expected to be from Syria and Eritrea, would remain in
Europe while they underwent asylum review to determine whether they
could stay.
A second quota plan would resettle 20,000 refugees — these could
include Syrians from camps in Lebanon and Turkey — over two years
across the European Union. Candidates for the resettlement program
would be identified by the United Nations refugee authorities.
Participation in that system is expected to be voluntary for European
Union countries.
Under a distribution system based on the capacity of countries to
accept migrants, France and Germany would take the most people under
both of the quota systems.
The quotas are just part of the response that Europeans have
considered to deal with a migrant crisis that has been made more acute
by the instability in Libya, a frequent launching point for smugglers,
who often earn thousands of dollars for each passenger. The country
has become ungovernable since Western powers backed a revolt that
ousted Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi four years ago.
This month, European foreign and defense ministers agreed to use
military force to disable or sink smugglers’ vessels in order to break
up their business networks. But European officials still need to
answer numerous questions about how naval forces would operate in
Libyan waters — including whether those forces would take migrants
rescued near African shores back to Libya or to Europe for asylum
review.
The crisis is an extremely delicate issue at a time when immigration
has climbed the political agenda in many countries, including Britain
and France. Countries like the Czech Republic say they have already
absorbed large numbers of migrants from Ukraine and are not prepared
to accept many more from other regions.
Received on Wed May 27 2015 - 10:23:00 EDT