A top European Union official says refugees cannot pick and choose where to be lodged in Europe and that they have a responsibility to go where space is available.
EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that “it’s outrageous” and “not acceptable for refugees in Greece and Italy to refuse to take the plane for destinations other than Germany.”
Juncker said some EU governments are willing to accept refugees from overwhelmed Greece and Italy, “but there are very few refugees who agree to be relocated.”
The EU launched a relocation plan in September 2015 to redistribute among its members 160,000 refugees from the countries most impacted by the arrival of large numbers of refugees. More than a year later, only about 7,000 people have been moved.
Meanwhile, almost 700 migrants arrived at the Italian port town of Augusta on Monday after being rescued from their perilous boat journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
The migrants, rescued by Italian and Spanish ships, crowded on the deck of the vessel as it approached the Sicilian port, where Red Cross personnel waited to assist them.
Italy’s coast guard said on Saturday more than 2,200 migrants were rescued at sea that day as they tried to reach Europe and 10 bodies were recovered.
Also on Monday, Germany pledged a 61-million-euro ($67.44 million) hike in funding for UN relief operations in Africa so that fewer of its people undertake perilous odysseys to Europe, which has struggled to absorb an influx of migrants since last year.
The extra funding lifts Germany’s total contribution to the UN refugee agency UNHCR to 298 million euros for 2016, Foreign Ministry officials said. Its total humanitarian budget for 2016 was 1.28 billion euros, up from just 105 million euros in 2012.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced the increase during a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in Berlin.
Countries targeted by Germany’s move are ridden by chronic conflict, disastrous climate change and poverty. Many of their citizens continue to make desperate journeys through desert and by sea on rickety, overloaded boats to European shores.
Well over a million migrants, from Africa as well as the Middle East and Asia, have reached Europe since last year. Thousands have died en route. Major destination countries including Germany have struggled to cope with the human waves, and anti-immigrant sentiment and violence have spread.

Source: Arab News