Brussels wants new refugee resettlement scheme, with 50,000 target

The new scheme should focus on African countries, says Commission.

The EU should have a new scheme for resettling migrants, with a target of 50,000 being resettled over the next two years, the European Commission said Wednesday as it set out its plans for migration and asylum policy.

“This is part of the Commission’s efforts to provide viable, safe and legal alternatives for those who risk their lives at the hands of criminal smuggling networks,” the Commission said in statement.

“We need to open real alternatives to taking perilous irregular journeys,” said the European commissioner for migration and home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos. “Investing in more legal pathways, both for protection but also for study or work, is therefore essential,” he added.

The resettlement scheme would be voluntary, as opposed to the Commission’s attempt at a refugee relocation scheme, which ended Tuesday. The two-year scheme aimed to take 160,000 refugees who had arrived in Italy and Greece and move them across the bloc. However, the scheme fell well short of expectations. Around 29,000 refugees were relocated and some EU members, notably Hungary and Poland, refused to take part even though participation was supposed to be mandatory.

On Wednesday, the Commission also proposed €500 million in financial support for EU countries in their resettlement efforts and called for an increased focus on resettling migrants from the likes of Libya, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia.

Migration flows in Italy and Greece are “under control” compared to two years ago, at the height of the migration crisis, Avramopoulos said, adding that the Commission will be coming up with plans for pilot projects with non-EU countries on legal migration.

“Our joint efforts to respond to the migration and refugee crisis have led to tangible results, with irregular arrivals significantly down in both the Eastern and the Central Mediterranean,” Frans Timmermans, the Commission first vice president, said.

“However, we’re not there yet, so we must stay the course and further consolidate our comprehensive migration approach by putting in place the remaining building blocks.”

The Commission on Wednesday also proposed updating its rules for the Schengen border-free travel zone, including the reintroduction of border controls in case of terrorism or internal security threats. Several countries have brought in internal border controls in recent years, but those are expected to end later this year.

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“We are not proposing the prolongation of internal controls,” Avramopoulos said, “but a regime change” in how EU countries coordinate their efforts.

Avramopoulos also said Bulgaria and Romania should join fully the Schengen area for security reasons.