The number
of asylum applicants to European nations rose by 44 percent last year, with the
total reaching 626,000, according to EU statistics. Meanwhile, the EU is
planning to intercept refugees in the Mediterranean.
Deutsche Welle, 22 March 2015
According
to the European Union's statistics agency, Eurostat, 191,000 more people applied for asylum in European countries in 2014 than the previous year, with
the number of Syrian asylum applicants rising to 122,800 from 50,000 in 2013.
It also
said that many of these applicants sought asylum in Germany, with 32 percent of
the total number, followed by Sweden with 13 percent, then Italy and France
with 10 percent, and Hungary with 7 percent.
"It
should be noted that these five member states registered different trends last
year," Eurostat added.
Italy has
been most concerned with scores of migrants coming to its borders by boats
across the Mediterranean, mainly from Libya.
EU sea
mission braces for migrants
With summer
around the corner, a record number of refugees are expected to arrive in Europe
by sea, especially traveling from Libya to Italy. The EU's largest border
mission, Triton, conducted exercises off the eastern coast of Sicily earlier
this week to repel the wave of refugees coming towards Europe.
Meanwhile,
Egypt and Tunisia have offered help to the EU in trapping refugees on the
Mediterranean Sea. According to Der Spiegel magazine, the two countries have
struck an agreement with Germany and other major EU countries in this regard.
"Third
countries can intervene more quickly and effectively due to their geographical
proximity" to rescue refugees and prevent humanitarian tragedies, the
magazine quoted a source as saying.
According
to the reports, the Egyptian and Tunisian naval forces would bring migrants to
"their own ports" on the North African coast instead of sending them
back to their home countries.
Greens MEP
Ska Keller told Der Spiegel that the EU states did not want to accept their
responsibility in the refugee crisis, and that Egypt and Tunisia were not safe
for the refugees.
Italy and other member states plan to outsource rescue at sea in order to keep #refugees away http://t.co/RyGRyuCmK3
— Ska Keller (@SkaKeller) 21 maart 2015
A number of
human rights organizations, including the United Nations, have criticized the
EU countries for not taking in enough refugees.
(shs/msh
(AFP, Reuters)
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