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EU Interior Ministers Hold Talks Over Migrant Crisis Amid Calls for Penalties

© AP Photo / Peter SteffenA migrant holds a child after their arrival at the railway station in Lehrte, near Hannover, northern Germany, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015.
A migrant holds a child after their arrival at the railway station in Lehrte, near Hannover, northern Germany, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. - Sputnik International
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EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg Thursday (October 13) are struggling to try and break the impasse over migrant relocation, mulling possible fines for countries refusing to take in migrants under the mandatory relocation scheme that has run into massive opposition.

EU interior ministers are facing the worst immigration crisis in the history of the EU, with migrants seeking asylum in Europe crowding on Italy and Greece, which itself has a 200 percent occupancy in its refugee camps. That means there are two migrants per available bed, because of a lack of space and assets at the so-called 'hotspots' where they are processed.

© AP Photo / Alexander ZemlianichenkoSyrian migrants and refugees gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015.
Syrian migrants and refugees gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. - Sputnik International
Syrian migrants and refugees gather at a makeshift migrant detention center at Kos' abandoned football stadium after crossing from Turkey, at the southeastern island of Kos, Greece, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015.

On the agenda are possible fines for EU member states that refuse to take in refugees from Italy and Greece, which — although technically agreed at EU-level — many member states are objecting to.

Under the relocation plan, 160,000 people granted asylum would be relocated around the EU member states according to a quota system, based on population, GDP and other measures.

However, the plan has run into major difficulties, as many countries — particularly in Eastern Europe — have rejected the deal. The European Council — representing every EU member state — agreed in June 2015 to:

"The temporary and exceptional relocation over two years from the frontline Member States Italy and Greece to other Member States of 40.000 persons in clear need of international protection, in which all Member States will participate."

'Absolutely Irrational'

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, October 4, 2016. - Sputnik International
Hungary Threatened With Legal Action Over Migrant Returns
In practice, the relocation scheme does not involve the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, which all have opt-outs from the Schengen area. However, many countries have blocked their borders and are refusing to take in migrants by quota. The Commission has considered fining EU member states for not taking in their share of refugees. 

Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland — the Visegrad Four (V4) — are all staunchly opposed to the mandatory relocation of refugees, with both Hungary and Slovakia — which holds the rotating presidency of the EU — threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice.

A couple stands behind a fence as refugees and migrants wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the town of Gevgelija on March 3, 2016. - Sputnik International
Austria: EU Must Deport More Migrants
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico told reporters, as he took over the presidency: "A vast majority of Europeans disagree with the current state of migration policy in Europe." He described the Commission's proposal to fine member states US$278,000 for every refugee they refused to accept as "absolutely irrational." 

Meanwhile, Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told Germany's Die Welt newspaper, October 13, that the EU should increase measures to prevent displaced people from reaching the bloc. He also called on EU members to speed up the deportations of people whose asylum applications have been rejected.

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