Updated | Europe plans to increase refugee quota plan by 120,000

New refugee quota plans prepared by the European Commission and published by Spanish online paper El Pais shows Malta is set to take 133 people under the EU’s relocation and resettlement plan.

Preliminary figures had started off at around 300 and went down to 74 people. The latest figures now points toward an intake of 133 refugees, after the EU revised its quotas accepting to take in an extra 120,000 people.

A government spokesperson told MaltaToday that he could not confirm the figure as discussions had not yet started.

The quota plan will be discussed this week and decisions on the actual numbers should be taken on Monday during an extraordinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council.

According to the latest data, Germany, France and Spain would take nearly 60% of the total.

Reuters report that the EU executive has drawn up a new set of national quotas under which Germany will take in more than 40,000 and France 30,000 of a total of 160,000 asylum-seekers it says should be relocated from Italy, Greece and Hungary.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is due to unveil new proposals on Wednesday as EU officials state that Juncker will propose adding 120,000 people to be relocated on top of a group of 40,000 the Commission previously proposed relocating.

Germany would, if EU leaders agree to the scheme, be asked to take in 31,443 and France 24,031. Earlier on Monday, French President Francois Hollande said France would take 24,000 of the additional 120,000 people seeking refuge.

An EU source also told Reuters that the Commission also planned to put Turkey and all the non-EU states of the Western Balkans on a new list of “safe” countries, whose citizens would face accelerated reviews of asylum claims to speed deportation for most of them.

President Francois Hollande has meanwhile ordered preparations to begin for air strikes on Islamic State militants in Syria.

He said France would start reconnaissance flights on Tuesday with a view to launching attacks, but ruled out sending troops on the ground.

Russia has responded to growing concern that it is increasing its military support for President Bashar al-Assad.

More than 220,000 people have been killed and more than nine million displaced in the war in Syria.

Speaking at his bi-annual news conference in Paris, Mr Hollande said terror attacks had been planned from Syria against several countries, including France.

"My responsibility is to ensure that we are informed as much as possible on the threats to our country," he said.

"So I have asked the defence minister that from tomorrow reconnaissance flights begin over Syria that will enable us to consider air strikes against Islamic State."

He said it would be "pointless and unrealistic" for France to send ground troops into the country.

But he added his government would continue to work for a political transition that sidelined Syria's president.