After a failed interior ministers meeting last week, it is clear that the dissenters, notably Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, can be out-voted. With an average of 6,000 persons arriving every day on European shores, this requires a massive investment.
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Almost half a million people fleeing war and poverty, two-fifths of them from Syria, have crossed the Mediterranean this year to reach Europe, overwhelming the EU’s southern states and plunging them into furious rows over border controls.
Home affairs ministers of European Union (EU) member states gathered here Tuesday afternoon to resolve the dispute over the emergency relocation of 120,000 refugees.
So far, 34,900 migrants have been allowed into Croatia, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
In its global Migration Outlook 2015, the OECD said: “Building consensus among European countries to identify and agree on ad hoc emergency solutions has proven particularly challenging, in part because of expected negative reactions in public opinion at the national level”.
Hungarian parliament passed new laws late Monday that widened the army’s power to halt refugees and migrants crossing the country’s border. It is a prospect some in Europe fear.
The quota plan is aimed at taking the pressure off certain countries such as Germany – the final destination for many – as well as Italy and Greece where they first arrive.
Hans-Georg Maassen says that the number of ultraconservative Muslim Salafists in Germany has risen by 400 since June to 7,900.
The OECD called on its 34 member countries, which include the USA and most of Europe, to “constantly” adjust immigration policies to take into account shifts such as war in Syria and political collapse in Libya, which have driven many people to seek refuge in Europe.
The scheme to take in migrants appears on the surface to be voluntary, he says, although countries are likely to be given little choice in the matter.
De Maziere said the deal also aims to cut “secondary migration” in which people move from one country to another within Europe.
Europe’s prime ministers and heads of state will discuss that at their emergency meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
No euphoria. No desperation, such as we’ve seen at so many European borders over the last months, but more a sense of quiet objective . The governments also will reportedly use this meeting to strategize on how to stall the flood of people reaching the continent, including considering a blueprint to give more aid and support to Turkey, which has taken in more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees. The decision turns up the heat a notch on leaders like Robert Fico, and further exposes his mendacious claims that 90 percent of refugees are economic migrants, and that the European Union “has ceased to be a safe place” due to their presence.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn meanwhile said it would suspend key services to and from Austria and Hungary until October 4th, citing border controls introduced to manage a record migrant influx.
Even though Croatia set up a migrant reception center Monday in the eastern village of Opatovac to try to bring order to the unrelenting chaos and misery, it could hardly undo the damage.
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The remaining 54,000 were initially to have been taken from Hungary, but that plan was revised after Budapest pulled out of the scheme.
