EU plans to admit more refugees
September 2, 2009 by Webmaster · Leave a Comment
The European Commission has unveiled plans to allow more refugees from conflict zones and poor nations into European countries.
The scheme is aimed at discouraging immigrants – mainly from Africa – from attempting to reach Europe illegally.
Many risk their lives as they try to enter the EU, often on rickety boats, relying on human traffickers.
The UN says 65,596 refugees were resettled worldwide last year, but the EU accepted just 4,378, or 6.7%.
The Commission – the EU’s executive arm – says this “contrasts sharply with the numbers taken in by many other countries in the industrialised world, particularly the US, Canada and Australia”.
The Commission’s new “Joint EU Resettlement Programme” concerns only the resettlement of refugees currently living outside the EU.
It is separate from proposals aimed at easing transfers of refugees from one EU member state to another – known as “burden-sharing”.
States free to decide
Several Mediterranean countries, including Italy and Malta, have experienced a large influx of asylum seekers in recent years and want other EU states to help by taking in larger numbers.
