PARIS: France will take in 500 migrant minors from the fire-ravaged Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, the government said Wednesday.
“France has already made a precise commitment for 350 minors and we are going to make a commitment for 150 more minors”, left without shelter following the blaze, European affairs minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster RTL.
France’s foreign ministry later clarified that the country had already announced it would take in 500 minors.
Around 12,000 people were left homeless when the overcrowded camp burned down in early September.
The humanitarian situation in the camp had even before the fire deteriorated to the extent it has become a symbol of a European asylum system in meltdown, prompting the European Commission to embark on a new strategy for handling migration to the bloc.
The Commission on Wednesday unveiled a “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” which includes a “solidarity mechanism” for the 27 member states to share the burden while setting out proposals for tougher border controls and streamlined procedures for expelling rejected asylum seekers.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson wants the 27 member states to share the burden of handling asylum claims from migrants who arrive mostly on the bloc’s southern shores in Greece, Italy and Spain and has raised the idea of mandatory sharing.
But some of the bloc’s smaller states oppose a mandatory distribution system.
Beaune meanwhile urged Italy to take in the humanitarian vessel Alan Kurdi, currently headed for Marseille with some 130 migrants aboard after they were rescued from the Mediterranean, although he added that France “is ready to do its part.” — AFP
