"The situation of migration phenomena outside and inside the European Union has recently taken unprecedented proportions," said the statement from Luxembourg, which holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency.
"In order to assess the situation on the ground, the political actions underway and to discuss the next steps in order to strengthen the European response, the Luxembourg Minister for Immigration and Asylum Jean Asselborn decided to convene an extraordinary JHA (justice and home affairs) Council," said the statement.
The call for a meeting of the EU's 28 member states follows a joint call for the talks by Germany, France and Britain earlier in the day.
Germany's Thomas de Maiziere, Britain's Theresa May and France's Bernard Cazeneuve held talks Saturday on the issue, on the sidelines of a meeting in Paris on transport security.
The trio "underlined the necessity to take immediate action to deal with the challenge from the migrant influx".
They also called for reception centres to be set up urgently in Italy and Greece in order to register new arrivals, and for a common EU list of "safe countries of origin" to be established.
Berlin, which is expecting to receive 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, has been pushing for such a list, arguing that it would free up resources to help those fleeing war and persecution.
The number of migrants reaching the EU's borders reached nearly 340,000 during the first seven months of the year, up from 123,500 during the same period in 2014, according to the bloc's border agency Frontex.
AFP
ahram.org.eg
30/8/15
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EU powers urge ‘strengthened response’ to migrant influx...
ReplyDeleteEuropean Union leaders on Sunday called for action to defend the "dignity" of migrants ahead of fresh emergency talks, as tensions flared on the bloc's eastern borders over the escalating crisis.
Home affairs ministers will meet on September 14 in Brussels to try and "strengthen the European response" to the influx, said Luxembourg, which holds the rotating EU presidency.
"Europe needs to stop being moved and start moving," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said, calling again for a fairer distribution of migrants among the European Union's 28 members.
Europe has been struggling to cope with the record numbers of people flooding across its borders – some 300,000 this year alone, according to the UN – in a crisis which has exposed deep divisions within the bloc.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday said it was "scandalous" some Eastern European countries were refusing to accept more migrants and said Hungary's construction of a barrier to stop new arrivals "did not respect Europe's common values" – drawing an angry response from Budapest.
The discovery of 71 decomposing corpses in an abandoned truck on an Austrian motorway last week has served as a chilling reminder of Europe's failure to help those fleeing persecution in the Middle East and Africa..........france24.com
Greece's coast guard says it has picked up nearly 2,500 migrants from the sea in dozens of search and rescue operations over the weekend, part of a relentless flow of people heading for the safety of Europe after facing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
ReplyDeleteThe coast guard said Monday it had rescued 2,492 people in 70 operations off the eastern islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Agathonissi, Farmakonissi, Kos and Symi from Friday morning until Monday morning.
Separately, it said a coast guard patrol boat rescued another 13 people spotted in the water near the port of Chios by a local boat. One person was recovered unconscious and transported to a hospital. The circumstances of the incident were not immediately clear.
Associated Press
dailystar.com.lb