EU to propose relocating 40,000 refugees
The European Commission is set to propose next week that 40,000 asylum-seekers who have arrived by boat in Italy and Greece should be relocated across the continent in response to what it considers an emergency situation in both countries, Reuters reports.
The proposal, revealed to Reuters by an EU source familiar with a draft, follows plans announced last week for the European Union to take in 20,000 asylum-seekers currently living outside the bloc.
The Commission has also set a quota system, based on a country’s size and economic health, for those resettled migrants as well as for those relocated within the EU.
The EU measure is due to be finalized Wednesday and would need majority support from European Union member states expecting to take in some of the migrants.
The Commission had not provided the number of proposed relocations. The 40,000 figure could have been set to guarantee acceptance after some EU states, notably France, had initially balked at the idea of opening their doors to migrants.