(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) EU Interior and Justice Ministers began a meeting in Luxembourg Thursday to discuss migration, visa policy and counterterrorism issues.
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg minister for foreign affairs, immigration and asylum told reporters that today's meeting is important as they are going to work hard in order to put a number of things in place.
"Firstly border controls, Schengen can only survive if external borders are secured.
The second point concerns hot spots (refugee centres).
Both the Presidency and the Commission estimate that the number of people available for the hot spots has increased tenfold, it is a very important first step also for Italy and Greece," he said.
Asselborn whose country holds the current EU Presidency announced that he with the EU Commissioner for migration Dimitiris Avramopoulos are flying tonight to Italy to and to the island of Lampedusa tomorrow. On Saturday they will be in Greece "to do everything so that both countries are supported and encouraged to take the necessary steps." On her part, Theresa May, UK Secretary of State for the Home Department told journalists that "we need to ensure that we break the link between people making a dangerous journey to Europe and being able to stay in Europe." "That's why the UK has always argued that we should be sending economic migrants back to their countries of origin. It's why we need to crack down on those who are abusing our asylum system," she said.
She added that the UK is taking 20,000 Syrian refugees, over the next few years from the refugees' camp so they are not making this dangerous journey and we can help those who are most in need of our assistance," May added. For his part, Thomas de Maiziere, German interior minister said "an important topic today will be a better protection of the EU's external borders.
"A Europe without secured external borders will become a Europe full of internal border controls - we don't want that," he added.
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