EU wins legal battle on refugee quotas
6 Sep 2017 4:38 PM GMT
Brussels: The EU on Thursday won a legal battle against eastern European countries that rejected a quota scheme to force member states to admit tens of thousands of asylum seekers.
The European Court of Justice, the 28-nation bloc's top court, threw out the challenge from Hungary and Slovakia against a scheme Brussels launched two years ago to ease the burden on overstretched Greece and Italy.
Europe has been grappling with the worst migrant crisis since World War II, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
"The court dismisses the actions brought by Slovakia and Hungary against the provisional mechanism for the mandatory relocation of asylum seekers," the Luxembourg-based court said.
"That mechanism actually contributes to enabling Greece and Italy to deal with the impact of the 2015 migration crisis and is proportionate."
The continuing crisis peaked in 2015. More than 1.6 million people have landed on Greek and Italian shores since 2014. The verdict was welcomed by the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation bloc.
ECJ confirms relocation scheme valid.
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