EU Should Improve Reception of Refugees - European Parliament

The European Union has recently been struggling with an influx of refugees, as more people attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to escape violence in Northern Africa and in the Middle East.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union should develop measures to resolve conflicts in the main countries of origin for refugees, as well as manage the reception of asylum seekers better, European Parliament Vice President Sylvie Guillaume told Sputnik.

"It is more responsible and forward-looking to develop a set of measures that include, among others, diplomatic efforts for conflict resolution, creation of legal avenues for refugees and better management at an EU level of the reception of refugees than to keep our eyes closed and regret again and again the terrible loss of migrants at sea."

After over 1,500 people died trying to cross the sea in 2015, the European Commission unveiled an emergency plan to manage the intake of refugees by using a quota system, whereby all EU member states would share the burden, based on a country's GDP, population size, unemployment rate and past number of asylum seekers.

Ten of the 28 EU member states voiced opposition to immigration quotas.

British Home Secretary Theresa May stated that the plan would encourage more people to attempt the perilous journey. Guillaume stated that the refugees would continue to arrive whether May likes it or not.

According to Eurostat, in 2014, more than 600,000 refugee applications were registered in the European Union. About 200,000 asylum seekers settled in Germany, over 80,000 in Sweden, and some 65,000 in Italy.