Italy urges quicker refugee relocations across Europe
Posted December 01, 2015 6:00 am
ROME (AP) - The latest news as tens of thousands of people slip into Europe and head to wealthy European Union countries in search of a better life. All times local.
3:10 p.m.
Italy hopes the slow pace of relocating asylum-seekers to other European Union countries will quicken.
So far, only 133 of 40,000 asylum-seekers have been resettled from Italy, with the first departing in October. Interior Ministry official Riccardo Mattei said Tuesday that "mutual trust" must develop between sending and receiving countries for the EU program to succeed. He expressed hope that the number of asylum-seekers Italy relocates to other countries will double in the next few weeks.
Another ministry official, Simona Spinelli, dismissed that fears terrorists might use the relocation program to move between countries, saying the refugees undergo criminal background and fingerprint checks.
EU countries receive 6,000 euros in EU funds ($6,500) per each person resettled. Asylum-seekers who arrived in Greece and Hungary are also being resettled.
A man holds up a baby as stranded migrants protest in front of the border fence, demanding to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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Volunteers help around 50 refugees and migrants to disembark from a vessel after their arrival from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Authorities in northwestern Turkey on Monday rounded up some 1,300 asylum seekers and migrants allegedly preparing to make their way into Greece. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
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Stranded migrants from Morocco, who are demanding to be allowed to cross the Greek-Macedonian border, protest near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. Macedonia erected a fence on its southern border with neighboring Greece in order to prevent illegal crossings by migrants. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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A woman checks her mobile phone standing on a beach with other refugees, shortly after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. The International Organization for Migration said almost 900,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have entered Europe this year seeking sanctuary or jobs. More than 600,000 have entered through Greece, many after making the short sea crossing from Turkey. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
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Stranded migrants protest in front of the border fence, demanding to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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A stranded migrant sits inside his tent on the railways tracks at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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Stranded migrant walk on the railway tracks next to tents at the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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Stranded migrants protest in front of the border fence, demanding to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
The Associated Press
A child cries as stranded migrant protest in front of the border fence, demanding to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
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