European Parliament Backs Commission's New Migrant Quota

The European Parliament endorsed the resettlement of 160,000 refugees in the EU within the next two years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – European lawmakers backed the resettlement of 160,000 refugees in the European Union over the next two years, the European Parliament said in a press release Thursday.

"Having backed an emergency proposal the day before for relocating 40,000 asylum seekers among EU countries, [lawmakers] welcomed a fresh proposal for the emergency relocation of more asylum seekers from Italy, Greece and Hungary (the Commission proposes 120,000)," it stated.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker submitted updated figures Wednesday against a backdrop of drastically growing numbers of new arrivals into Europe from crisis-stricken countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Thursday’s 432-to-142 vote, with 57 abstentions, included measures to amend the EU visa code, adopt a common European asylum system, as well as address the root causes of migration in countries of origin.

"Parliament declares its intention to advance its work on the draft laws ‘so as to ensure that member states do not delay the permanent relocation scheme’," the release continued.

European lawmakers backed a permanent mechanism amending the Dublin rules, requiring migrants to seek asylum in the first EU member state of arrival to prevent multiple applications and abuse of the system.

The quota system seeks to resettle migrants among the bloc's 28 members based on their population, total gross domestic product, average number of asylum applications and refugees per one million inhabitants, as well as unemployment rate.

Greece, Hungary and Italy are the EU member states hit hardest by an unprecedented flow of migrants, dubbed the worst refugee crisis since World War II.