Off the wire
• Ukraine postpones imposing special duty on imports from Belarus  • Two Finnish vendors suspected of tax fraud linking to online alcohol trade  • U.S. hip-hop artist arrested in S. Africa over false passport  • British organization urges food labels showing activity needed to burn calories  • U.S. industrial production continues to fall in December  • Ukraine launches cargo train service to China  • Mozambique's top university to launch Chinese degree course  • Special police officers arrested over bank robbery in Bosnia  • British FTSE 100 decreases 1.93 pct on Friday  • Council of Europe urges clampdown on money laundering in Guernsey  
You are here: 　 Home

EU refugee quotas not operable: Dutch ministers

Xinhua, January 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

After their talks with Czech officials on Friday, the Dutch foreign and migration ministers said the quota system for redistributing refugees within the European Union (EU) is not yet operable and the system itself will not resolve the migrant issue.

Dutch Migration Minister Klaas Dijkhoff noted that EU member states should comply with all their commitments in the sphere of migration and it is necessary to move forward not only with the introduction of quotas.

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek reiterated that the Visegrad Four (V4) Group countries continue to reject the quotas, saying the quota system will not be viable unless the EU external border is secured.

Dijkhoff said the relocation system for refugees completely does not work, they need to accelerate the process.

He said the EU must focus on the fulfillment of all the commitments that have already been agreed. In addition to the quotas, this also applies to the hotspots and consistent protection of the external borders of the EU.

The ministers of both countries agreed that the EU external border guard is a key capability for managing the migration. This should be helped by launching the project of a common European border guard.

Other important measures are functioning hotspots, and the ability to discern who is fleeing from war and has a claim to protection.

"We need to separate those who are entitled to receive help and who have no right to be here," Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders was quoted as saying.

The Netherlands currently holds the EU presidency and it will preside over the EU in the first half of 2016. Endit