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BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union is set to unveil on Wednesday what's expected to be its most comprehensive series of proposals on migration to date. A controversial quota system is said to be among the initiatives, as well as military action against smugglers operating from Libya's shores.
This year about 2000 have already drowned attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing. Under intense international pressure the European Commission will unveil the details of how the bloc will do.
"Reinforce Frontex for search and rescue operations, crackdown on smugglers, introduce a quota system for distributing asylum seekers within and for resettling people in need of international protection outside the EU the EU and open up channels for legal skilled migration," said Natasha Bertaud, Spokeswoman for European Commission President.
Earlier in the week the EU asked the United Nations to back military strikes in Libyan waters targeting the boats used by people smugglers.But both of Libya's rival governments have rejected military action by the EU and they are not alone.
Human Rights groups including Amnesty International have warned that military action by the European Union could leave migrants stranded in Libya in desperate condition.
And there is fierce debate over the idea of EU countries being forced to accept quotas of asylum seekers.
Member states like Britain and Hungary oppose the plan, while Germany, Italy, Malta and Greece, which receive disproportionaly high numbers of refugees, have all backed it.
Even the idea of setting up more asylum seeker processing centres abroad has been questioned.
"I don't think it will have much of a deterrent effect to be honest because if the centers that process request for asylum aboard reject too many people they will still simply try the other way because they are desperate quite frankly to the only solution in the long term is to promote development in the countries of origin and that's obviously something in the very very long term," said Sven Biscop, Director of the Europe in the World Program.
In the meantime the EU has backtracked on an earlier proposal to forcibly repatriate migrants.
"No one will be sent back against their will as is already the case with the people we save with our operations at sea. This is for us a must," said Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Policy Chief.
EU leaders will discuss the proposals at a summit late next month by which time thousands more people will have attempted the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
