European Commission's Plan for Distributing Refugees Across Member States

The European Commission intends to approve a law by the end of this year that will require member states of the Union to share the burden of accommodating migrants based on criteria such as economic status, health, and population. According to a report by Reuters on Monday, May 21, the European Union will also ask member governments to support the emergency settlement of refugees who have currently reached one of the countries in this continent by the end of this month (May). This plan is part of broader developments in the EU's immigration laws in response to requests from Italy and several other southern European countries that are facing the influx of thousands of migrants from North Africa via the sea. Reuters states that the proposals in a draft set to be released on Wednesday have garnered support from France and some other European governments but require the backing of all 28 member states. However, the report adds that it is still too early to make definitive judgments on this matter. This plan faces opposition from a group of European politicians, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who have described it as 'madness.' According to this plan, the European Commission intends to make arrangements to transfer migrants from their first country based on the economy, population, unemployment rate, and past refugee acceptance levels to other countries in Europe. Reuters adds that the draft states: 'The European Union should not wait until pressures reach an unbearable point. The level of incoming [migrants to Europe] indicates that local acceptance capacity and available facilities are already limited.' Asylum requests in the 28 EU countries last year broke a record with 600,000 applications. The European Commission states that it wants to reduce the incentives for migrants to come to this continent and eliminate smuggling networks. In recent weeks, the repeated sinking of boats carrying illegal migrants, who generally come from Africa to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, has claimed the lives of hundreds.