2016-06-09 18:36:00

EU Ministers rush to stem flow of refugees


(Vatican Radio) European Union ministers are looking into ways the coming days on how to stem the ongoing flow of people fleeing war and poverty. 

Their gathering comes amid fresh tensions within the EU over how to deal with migration at a time when an increasing of number of people set sail for Europe from Libya and elsewhere in north Africa after a controversial deal with Turkey cut arrivals via Greece.

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

The EU's Interior Ministers are meeting at a time when the 28-nation block fears the central Mediterranean route to Italy may become the main one as calmer seas encourage more people to try the dangerous and often deadly journey. EU officials estimate that already  some 45,000 people reached Italy this year alone, roughly at the same level as in 2015.

Brussels is also worried about the long-term impact of massive migration from Africa. That's why it's considering linking development aid and trade ties with poor states to them keeping a lid on migration.

At the same time EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has revealed proposals offering a blue card to highly qualified migrants, referring to many of the more than a million refugees who arrived in Europe last year alone. "Not everyone of the more than a million people who have arrived last year [in Europe] will receive protection or the legal status to stay," he
noted.

"But for those who already have we have to make sure they can start to take part in our labour market and our services as soon as possible. If we ever want to compete with the US Green Card we need an EU Blue Card that deserves the same merit," Avramopoulos added. 

URGING COMPASSION

Catholic aid workers have also urged the EU to show more compassion towards refugees.

Yet the EU member state Hungary has already rejected the blue card system plan. Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said the European Commission, the EU's executive, “increasingly gives the impression  that  it  wants  Europe  to  fail”. 

He warned that the Blue Card system would result in further waves of what he said were migrants flooding the continent because in his words migrants and human smugglers interpreted such measures as invitations.
 
 Szijjártó said Europe already struggles with high unemployment, though the European Commission says the EU will soon need
more workers as the aging population is expected to decline by 20 million over the next 20 years.  

Hungary isn't known for welcoming refugees. It has build massive razor wire fences along its borders with Croatia and Serbia. Despite these measures the prime ministers office told Vatican Radio that at least more than 19,000 migrants arrived in Hungary this year.

 








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