European Parliament Votes İn Favour Of Emergency Relocation Mechanism For 120,000 Refugees

The European Parliament has voted in favour of the proposal of European Commission for relocating 120,000 people in clear need of international protection from Italy, Greece and Hungary, announced on September 17.

According to a written statement released by European Commission, the "reactivity" of the Parliament was particularly appreciated by the Commission, as an emergency procedure was launched to secure a vote in just a week after the proposal was first made, on September 9.

While the voting was considered as the most concrete move regarding the "migrant crisis", "The path is now clear for the Council to adopt our proposal. We urge Member States to take the necessary decisions at the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council on 22 September 2015. It is time for action" urged the statement.

If the European Council decides to adopt a decision on Tuesday September 22, the works to relocate refugees will be boosted immediately by the Commission in cooperation with member states and the relevant European Agencies.

Package involves relocation of 120,000 migrants, fight against human traffickers

The mechanism proposed by European Commission aims at assuring relocation and resettlement proposals, and an EU action plan against migrant smugglers.

The Commission has proposed a first package of implementing measures with respect to "European Agenda on Migration" in May, and on July the Justice and Home Affairs Council has agreed to implement the measures, notably to relocate people in clear need of international protection from Italy and Greece over the next two years, starting with 32,256 in a first step, and to resettle 22,504 displaced persons.

On Sep. 9, the Commission has proposed a new set of measures, including an emergency relocation mechanism for 120,000 refugees, as well as concrete implementations for processing applications in member states, tackling the root reasons of the "refugee crisis", and fighting with human smugglers.

On Sep. 14, member states adopted the decision to relocate some 40,000 refugees, in clear need of international protection, from Italy and Greece. - Brussels