Refugee crisis | EU remains divided as talks on quotas fail again

European governments have failed to agree on a system by which they would share 120,000 refugees but supported the relocation of 40,000 asylum seekers, on a voluntary basis.

Following a difficult meeting of the EU home affairs and interior ministers, EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said majority of the member states were ready to move on, “but not all”.

While agreeing to increase financial aid, the Council failed to agree on the European Commission’s proposal to relocate another 120,000 as Hungary said it was not interested in benefiting from the relocation scheme.

Home affairs minister Carmelo Abela voiced Malta’s support for the “ambitious and detailed proposals” proposed by the European Commission to tackle this crisis as fairly and humanely as possible.

“Malta is a firm believer of solidarity and by supporting it we are the same assistance to our EU partners which we have called for in the past,” he said, as countries like Germany, Austria and Slovakia reintroduced border controls.

Abela said the effective return and co-operation with third countries on readmission was important. Throughout the meeting, several EU Ministers referred to the importance of the Valletta Summit in establishing strong concrete actions to address the all-too-common tragedies in the Mediterranean. 

Malta not only supports a revaluation of the Dublin Regulation, but also supports a more permanent relocation mechanism, the activation of which could be requested by a Member State facing disproportionate pressures. 

Malta had long called for such a mechanism for solidarity which would lead to responsibility being shared among all Member States in a fair way.

Ministers yesterday heard the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, and the Director General of the International Organization for Migration, William Lacy Swing, underlining the alarming situation of people massively fleeing conflict regions.

The member states approved proposals for military action against people smugglers, authorizing the seizure and destruction of boats to break up smuggling networks operating out of Libya.

The EU will increase its budget to help the UNHCR to respond to the needs of refugees in camps established close to their places of origin, in particular, at the present moment, in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

The Council has agreed to increase the European Union Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian Crisis (the Madad Fund) significantly to provide immediate ad hoc support for Syria and the neighbouring countries.

The Council stressed that effective border control was imperative for the management of migration flows while reiterating its commitment to further strengthen ongoing operations.

“The Council has agreed that it is necessary to deploy without delay Frontex Rapid Border Interventions Teams to reinforce the response capacity of the European Union at sensitive external borders in consultation with the Member States concerned and in line with Frontex Regulation. Measures will be designed to support frontline and transit countries.”