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France supports more fairly distribution of refugees in Europe

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

France on Wednesday said refugees have to be distributed more fairly among the European Union's 28 member countries, refusing to accept the quotas for asylum seekers proposed by the European Commission.

"France fully supports the idea that these people will be, temporarily and according to parameters to be discussed thoroughly, distributed more equitably among the most exposed states and the different countries of the European Union," Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister and Bernard Cazeneuve, French Interior Minister said in a joint report presented at the cabinet meeting.

The two officials said that it is unacceptable that 75 percent of asylum seekers should be taken in by only five states, which are France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

At the end of April, Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission (EC) asked the members of the bloc to set immigration quotas to help Italy and Greece to deal with rising number of illegal migrants and asylum seekers who fled conflicts in their native countries seeking a better live in European countries.

Last Wednesday, the Commission said 20,000 refugees would be distributed among the member countries of the European bloc in the coming two years.

Fabius and Cazeneuve stressed: "France is and will remain opposed to any idea of quotas for asylum applications. Seeking refugee status is a right granted according to criteria and objectives that cannot be subject to a quota."

They also refused to accept a quota for illegal immigrants, suggesting to sent them home as soon as they reach any European country.

As thousands of illegal migrants and asylum seekers, mainly from the Arab conflict-torn countries, tried to reach the other rim of the Mediterranean, France urged the reinforcement of border controls, fight against traffickers of migrants and illegal immigration networks, stepping up of cooperation and increase of aid to the illegal migrants' native countries.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Saturday that France has already done a lot, as it has already opened its doors to 5,000 refugees from Syria and 4,500 from Iraq since 2012. Endit