EU justice, immigration ministers balk at UN call to take more refugees News
EU justice, immigration ministers balk at UN call to take more refugees

[JURIST] A UN appeal to European Union countries to draft a joint resettlement policy that would allow for acceptance of more refugees was met with reluctance Saturday by European justice and immigration ministers gathered in Brussels. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers [official profile] called on EU states to agree to measures that would allow relocating refugees evenly across the EU. Germany in particular cited economic concerns and argued it cannot cope with the number of refugees currently seeking asylum within its borders. EU ministers agreed in 2004 [EU directive] to set up a common asylum and immigration policy by 2010. An action plan to meet that goal is to be drafted in May. AP has more.