EU assembles multi-national task force to go after migrant smugglers
The European Union says it is going after suspected migrant trafficking and smuggling vessels in the international waters of the Mediterranean with an Italian aircraft carrier and five other vessels.
In reaction to the tens of thousands of people crossing the Mediterranean and the thousands of lives lost, the EU set up an operation that initially centered on saving those drifting on the high seas and would later also include directly targeting smuggling and trafficking operations.
Led by the Italian flagship Cavour, the flotilla also includes two German and a British, French and Spanish warship each. Seven planes and helicopters are also part of Operation Sophia.
Naval personnel of EU nations are allowed "to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking on the high seas, in line with international law" as of Wednesday.
Eritrean migrants to be moved to Sweden
A small group of Eritrean asylum seekers is to be moved to Sweden on Friday as the European Union's effort to relocate migrants away from overburdened Italy and Greece gains momentum.
The Eritreans will be sent to Sweden from Italy under the EU's plan to eventually share 160,000 refugees from countries hardest hit by the arrival of more than half a million people this year.
The EU has deployed asylum and border teams to Italy to identify people who might qualify for asylum or those coming to Europe in search of jobs and who should probably be sent home.
EU spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said Wednesday that similar fast-track asylum teams could also be operational in Greece within two weeks.
Hungary wants US, Canada and China to take in Muslim
Hungary's president says the United States, Canada and China are secure countries "and therefore suited for taking in refugees."
Ader, speaking after a meeting with Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, noted that the United States "has taken in 1,500 Syrian refugees so far." Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other officials have also called for non-European countries to accept their share of refugees in a system of global quotas.
Grabar-Kitarovic said the migrant crisis had "cast a shadow" on the rapport between Hungary and Croatia, but she agreed with Ader that this should not ruin their traditionally strong relations.
This year, over 324,000 migrants and refugees entered Hungary, which has built fences on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia in an attempt to control their flow.
Slovak President criticizes his government for opposing EU migrant redistribution quotas, wants to take in thousands of Muslim migrants
Slovak President Andrej Kiska is criticizing the government for its handling of the migrant crisis and opposition to EU quotas.
The leftist government of Prime Minister Robert Fico is challenging a European Union decision to redistribute 120,000 asylum-seekers among the bloc's 28 nations.
Slovakia voted against the plan along with the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.
Addressing the country's Parliament on Wednesday, Kiska said the government doesn't understand that the quota plan shows solidarity among EU member states.
Kiska said Slovakia is in a position to take in thousands of refugees fleeing war and that it would not harm his country. Kiska says it is the refusal to accept to the quota system that harms Slovakia and has led it to isolation.
Hollande and Merkel live in an alternate reality
French President Francois Hollande is calling on the European Union to adopt a common asylum policy.
In a speech Wednesday before the European Parliament, Hollande said it would be a "tragic error" to call into question Europe's open borders. Instead, he said, the member states need to come up with a coherent asylum policy.
Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were speaking before a sometimes skeptical audience in Strasbourg, France, as the EU faces bitter divisions over how to cope with the influx of migrants, including many fleeing the ravages of war and dictatorship.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told European lawmakers that Europe can't shut itself off from the outside world in an effort to keep out migrants.
European Union countries have squabbled over how to deal with this year's influx, with Hungary building a fence on its border with Serbia to try to halt it.
Merkel told the European Parliament on Wednesday: "We have to recognize that, even if we tried to seal ourselves off completely — even at the price that people could suffer at our borders — that would help no one." [...]
Germany has struggled to get other EU countries to share the burden of hosting refugees. Merkel said: "In the refugee crisis, we must not succumb to the temptation of falling back into national action. Quite the contrary: now we need more Europe."
EU may start enforcing deportation of failed asylum seekers
European Union countries are set to agree on a crackdown on migrants refused entry into the bloc and move to swiftly send them home.
More than 500,000 people have arrived this year seeking sanctuary or jobs, sparking the EU's biggest refugee emergency in decades.
But some 40 percent of people who fail to obtain asylum or residency in the 28-nation EU over the past several years have been sent home.
EU interior ministers will agree on Thursday that "all measures must be taken to ensure irregular migrants' effective return," according to a draft statement seen by The Associated Press.
Those measures include the "use of detention as a legitimate measure of last resort." Even though member states have had the right to do so, it has rarely been enforced.
Germany: Sharp increase in migrants to Europe this year
German authorities say 164,000 asylum seekers arrived in the country last month, reflecting the sharp increase in migrants to Europe this year.
Figures released Wednesday by the Interior Ministry show that about 577,000 people seeking asylum came to Germany between the start of the year and the end of September.
The number of formal asylum requests last month was 43,071 — an increase of 126 percent compared to September 2014. That figure lags behind actual arrivals as officials struggle to process all applications.
Out of those who submitted a request, about a third — 16,838 — came from Syria. This was followed by asylum seekers from Albania, Afghanistan, Iraq and Serbia.
Estonian anti-immigrant party calls for referendum to oppose the influx of migrants
A small, anti-immigrant opposition party in Estonia is calling for a referendum to make sure the tiny Baltic country doesn't increase the number of refugees it has agreed to take in.
EKRE Chairman Mart Helme says the populist, nationalist party has mailed a petition to 530,000 Estonian households this week. So far, about 2,000 have signed the petition calling for the plebiscite.
Helme said Wednesday the three-party government coalition "has betrayed the Estonian people" by agreeing to take in about 550 migrants. In Estonia, any lawmaker or parliamentary faction has the right to initiate a referendum.
There was no immediate comment from the government.
UK wants UN vote soon on refugee smuggling
Britain says it is hoping for a vote in the coming days on a U.N. resolution that would authorize the European Union and individual countries to take "enforcement action" on the high seas off Libya against vessels trying to smuggle refugees to Europe.
Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Wednesday the Libyan government has approved the EU mission and expressed hope for a vote possibly this week with a high number of "yes" votes.
But Russia's deputy ambassador, Petr Iliichev, said "we still have concerns" about the proposed resolution, which would also allow the seizure and destruction of boats after the migrants were taken to safety.
Several African countries have objected to the resolution being drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter which can be militarily enforced.
