EC Proposal to Charge EU States for Refusal to Accept Refugees 'Unethical'

The recent proposal by the European Commission (EC) under which an EU member state refusing to take in an EU-approved refugee will carry the cost of their relocation elsewhere is unethical, the press office of Slovakia's Interior Ministry told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — Earlier in the day, the European Commission tabled a proposal under which an EU country will face a 250,000 euro [$287,000] charge for each refused EU-approved refugee.

"We have got a few questions about this idea, for example we do not understand how European Commission reached this number – €250,000, there is also an ethical dimension – someone wants to put 'a price tag' on human life," the press office said.

The ministry's press office also added that the reaction of EU countries that have "just coped with the economic crisis" and with high unemployment rates is under question.

The $287,000 payment, dubbed "solidarity contribution" by Brussels, will be part of a fairness mechanism designed to enforce the Commission’s refugee relocation quotas and help those EU states that are handling a "disproportionate number" of asylum seekers.

In September 2015, the EU interior ministers, by a qualified majority, approved a plan to redistribute some 120,000 refugees throughout the bloc based on a quota system proposed by the European Commission.

Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary have opposed the majority of EU states on the refugee quota issue, while the United Kingdom has used its opt-out clause to dodge of the mandatory program.