EU to Begin Processing Asylum Seekers Before They Arrive

The European Commission could create immigration centers outside the European Union (EU) to cope with the massive influx of undocumented migrants. The EU borders agency Frontex estimates that over 276,000 people entered the EU illegally in 2014, which marked a 155-percent increase compared to 2013 figures.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Commission is planning to set up immigration centers outside the European Union (EU) to process asylum seeker applications before they enter the bloc, the Guardian reported Thursday.

The unprecedented move is designed to cope with the massive influx of undocumented migrants.

The EU borders agency Frontex estimates that over 276,000 people entered the EU illegally in 2014, which marked a 155-percent increase compared to 2013 figures. For the most part, the migrants arrived from the Mediterranean, crossing the dangerous stretch of water that separates North Africa from the Spanish and Italian coasts.

Dimitris Avramopoulos, an EU commissioner in charge of migration and home affairs, explained the EU embassies and offices in the so-called third countries of origin would be used to process asylum seekers and refugees' requests before they arrive in the EU, the Guardian said.

The idea of setting up immigration centers in countries such as Niger, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon is being strongly backed by Italy, which is facing mounting numbers of potential refugees attempting to reach its territory. Last year alone, over 3,500 people drowned while attempting to cross Mediterranean.

On Wednesday, Italian officials said that more than 1,000 people had been saved from drowning over two days, but ten migrants had died.

Human Rights Watch and the United Nations have voiced concerns over the rising number of fatal accidents in the Mediterranean Sea. The UN is currently working on a report on border management in the EU, due to be presented in June.