EU ministers are meeting in Brussels Monday to try to resolve the issue of where to put 60,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe fleeing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. However, the number of migrants is small, compared to the total number of displaced people in and around Europe.
They have so far failed to reach consensus on where the 60,000 migrants and asylum seekers — who are mainly in Italy and Greece — should be distributed throughout member states. Some counties — including the UK and Denmark — have said they will assert their right not to accept any, while Hungary has said it will erect a wall to prevent further migrants entering its country.
EU urged to help #refugees stranded in #Greece before the situation deteriorated further. http://t.co/asemAbp4kO pic.twitter.com/7wxwkh4gHn
— UNHCR Central Europe (@RefugeesCE) 20 июля 2015
Under the deal, 20,000 people would be re-settled in their own countries, while 40,000 would be redistributed throughout the EU.
Aid groups say thousands of refugees on Greek islands have been overlooked by EU as it worries about Greek bailout. http://t.co/PbtuwBBHEa
— Gregory A. Maniatis (@gmaniatis) 20 июля 2015
After the previous meeting to try and reach consensus, the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the deal offered only "small help" and the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel described the refugee plan as "saddening and disappointing."
Fifteen Million Displaced Through War
More than four million Syrians have now fled war and persecution and become refugees in neighbouring countries, making the Syrian conflict the UN refugee agency's worst crisis for almost a quarter of a century.
Added together with displacements from neighbouring Iraq and surrounding areas, the figure is estimated to be as high as 15 million.
The United Nations refugee chief told a World Economic Forum event in Jordan: "I think that there is no perfect conscience in the world of the drama we are facing.
"We have now almost 4 million Syrian refugees but if you take Syria and Iraq altogether the number of displaced people is almost 15 million people and many of those displaced live in absolute misery."
Migrants from Syria & Afghanistan sleep on a train crossing Serbia on their way to other EU countries Photos @dilkoff pic.twitter.com/EULGhHxxPY
— AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) 20 июля 2015
Daisy Schmitt, who works for the migrants' rights unit of the International Federation for Human Rights in Paris, said the current EU plan was "not enough."
Trending in EU: Estimate Number of Refugees Who Were Lost or Died Trying to Enter Europe S… http://t.co/qcBG5tx2BJ pic.twitter.com/oBgYRezbqx
— EU Travels (@fop2014) 20 июля 2015
"The numbers are too small, given the situation. For example, Lebanon has one million refugees from Syria, so it's very little."
