MIGRASYL

News on migration and asylum from around the region - Nouvelles de la région sur les questions de migration et d'asile

Friday, February 06, 2015

[Refugees from Syria] Daily Star - UN urges refugee quota system in Europe

4 February 2015

The top U.N. official for refugees Tuesday urged the European Union to consider imposing a quota system to force its nations to more equitably handle a spike in asylum-seekers, spurred by the wars in Syria and Iraq.
“We are ready to support political initiatives within Europe, for instance, aiming in some situations to have forms of quota distribution,” Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees said.
He said that while asylum-seekers generally enter Europe through Greece and Italy, nearly half of all asylum requests last year were presented in Germany and Sweden, a sign of lopsided distribution.
The rush comes as the number of people driven from their homes by conflict and crisis topped 50 million, a first since World War II, according to the UNHCR.
Read more