News / EU

Slovakia challenges EU planned refugee quota system

Wednesday, 02 December 2015 2:21 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 December 2015 2:22 PM ]

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico ©AFP

Slovakia says it has filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) challenging the European Union's plan to distribute tens of thousands of asylum seekers among the 28-nation bloc’s member states.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico announced the decision in the capital city of Bratislava on Wednesday.

Referring to a relocation plan adopted by the EU to share responsibility for a total of 160,000 asylum seekers already in the EU region, Fico called on the Luxembourg-based ECJ to rule the mandatory quota plan “invalid.”

“I consider the quotas to be nonsensical and technically impossible. Our words are being proven true, the quotas have become a fiasco,” the Slovak premier added.

Back in September, EU interior ministers approved the principle of sharing 160,000 refugees between member states over the next two years despite opposition by Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia to mandatory quotas.

Slovakia, which has only received 154 asylum requests this year, is due take in 802 refugees under the new quota system.

Refugees cross the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija, Macedonia, November 28, 2015. ©Reuters

European countries reportedly remain divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in the Middle East and Africa.

While a few European leaders support an open-door refugee policy, others prefer controlling the external borders of the EU, deporting more people and paying third countries to keep asylum seekers on their soil. Many of the EU states have come under fire for their mistreatment of asylum seekers at the borders, where they have been grappling with dire living conditions in refugee camps.

According to the recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 878,490 refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year while more than 3,560 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

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