Migration deal sealed

EU leaders have reached a hard-fought deal on migration that foresees EU countries creating “controlled centres” to process migrants rescued at sea while also exploring the possibility of opening migrant centres outside Europe.

Under the agreement, EU countries would set up centres to process migrants’ asylum claims. Those deemed eligible would be distributed among member states.

The deal, which took 12 hours to complete, was mainly pushed by Italy, led by the newly inaugurated Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.