European leaders are in talks to create a camp for asylum seekers outside the EU in a country seen as being ‘not particularly attractive’ to traffickers.
The migrant centre would be in a non-EU European nation that is ‘not on the migrants’ or the human traffickers’ list of preferred destinations’.
Germany, Holland, Austria and Denmark are among governments involved in talks and there are hopes an initial pilot project could pave the way for a new European asylum system.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said there would be greater control than under the current system – but refused to say where the camp would be set up.
European leaders are in talks to create a camp for asylum seekers outside the EU in a country seen as being ‘not particularly attractive’ to traffickers (file picture shows migrants crossing the Mediterranean)
He said it would be in a place that was ‘not particularly attractive’ for traffickers.
The EU currently has 28 member states. Candidate countries include Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Potential candidates for membership of the bloc include Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Meanwhile, the EU’s website includes Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan as being non member European countries.
‘I’m optimistic. Based on my discussions with other European leaders – and the dialogue, that is going on at official level – it is my expectation that we will be able to take the first step this year,’ Rasmussen said in a speech marking Denmark’s Constitution Day.
The talks are being held directly between European governments and not within the EU framework, he told local media.
Germany, Holland, Austria and Denmark are among governments involved in talks and there are hopes an initial pilot project could pave the way for a new European asylum system (file picture shows migrant camps in Paris, France
‘To be honest, it would be in a country that is not on the migrants’ or the human traffickers’ list of preferred destinations,’ Rasmussen said in the speech.
Denmark’s intake of asylum seekers fleeing war and unrest in the Middle East and other regions has dropped to just over 1,000 in the first four months of this year, from a peak of more than 21,000 in 2015.
Compared with its neighbours Sweden and Germany, Denmark has generally granted fewer people asylum compared to the size of population.