Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will seek to shift the migration burden away from Italy and Greece by relocating 40,000 asylum seekers to other EU countries, according to a draft document seen by The Associated Press.
The relocation proposal, to be unveiled by the EU's executive Commission on Wednesday, would see new Syrian and Eritrean asylum seekers shared among 23 of the 28 member countries over the next two years. Britain, Denmark and Ireland will not take part.
The move comes as the number of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean to get to Europe continues to rise, with more than 80,000 landing so far this year. The International Organization for Migration estimates that 1,820 other migrants have died or gone missing on that journey.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
