EU tells us to take in more Med migrants
THE UK will be expected to hand asylum to potentially thousands of refugees to ease the ‘unprecedented’ migration crisis in Italy, Brussels chiefs said yesterday.
As a fierce diplomatic row broke out between European countries over how to deal with the situation, the EU said Britain was expected to open its doors.
The announcement came as Austria prepared to deploy troops in a bid to block migrants trying to cross its border with Italy. EU officials have warned the migration crisis could last for decades. Yesterday it emerged that the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean this year has passed 100,000, and nearly 2,250 have died making the journey.
Italy has taken in nearly 85 per cent of the arrivals.
Calls for the UK to accept refugees will raise questions about whether Theresa May is willing to depart from her hard-line approach amid pressure from EU leaders.
Under the voluntary scheme, the Prime Minister will be asked to give refuge to an unspecified number of refugees fleeing war-torn countries such as Libya, Sudan, Niger and Ethiopia.
Britain has previously distanced itself from immigra- tion rules set by Brussels and focused on its own schemes, such as David Cameron’s 2015 pledge to take 20,000 Syrian refugees. As home secretary Mrs May is understood to have resisted calls to widen Mr Cameron’s offer, and lobbied for a tougher definition of who is deemed a refugee. But European Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans yesterday said Mrs May would be pushed to take part in the new programme due to the strain on Italy.
He said the scheme would ‘ meet the requirements’ Britain has set in the past, adding: ‘It’s an exercise we need to do at the European level and we count on solidarity from all member states including the UK.’
The proposal was one of several announced yesterday, and followed days of threats from officials in Rome to block charity boats carrying rescued migrants. .
Pointing to further problems, Mr Timmermans said: ‘This migration issue will not go away, not today, not tomorrow ... not for two decades.’
A diplomatic row regarding the crisis yesterday broke out between Italy and Austria. Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said his country was ready to ‘protect our border if necessary’ by placing up to 750 troops, as well as increasing border controls. Officials said four armoured vehicles had already been sent near to Brenner Pass in the Alps.
Italy’s interior minister Marco Minniti dubbed it an ‘unjustified and unprecedented initiative which ... will inevitably create repercussions on security cooperation.’
Some 49 African migrants were feared dead yesterday after the Spanish coastguard rescued three survivors on a small rubber boat. It came after officials were tipped off early on Sunday that a vessel carrying 52 people had left the Moroccan coast.
‘We count on UK solidarity’