Romania needs to take in 3,500 more migrants, EC says

The European Commission (EC) said Romania needs to welcome 3,546 more refugees under the EU Emergency Relocation Mechanism, a legally-binding plan to address the influx of migrants on the EU's southern borders and ease the burden of Italy and Greece, front-line states in receiving migrants. Romania received 45 migrants from Italy and 589 migrants from Greece by June 9, 2017, a report of the European Commission shows. It needs to accept a total of 4,180 refugees, according to the commitments foreseen in the European Council Decisions. At the same time, Romania relocated 11 Syrian citizens, on the basis of the agreement between the European Union and Turkey. The European Commission also said planning documents have been agreed with Germany, France, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Sweden so that relocation transfers reach 2,500 in June and 3,000 in July, August and September. The European Commission had asked Romania in mid-May to up its monthly refugee relocation pledges. All E.U. member states need to receive 98,255 refugees but have so far relocated only 20,869. Romania has six accommodation centers for asylum seekers in Timişoara, Galaţi, Rădăuţi, Şomcuta Mare, Giurgiu and Bucharest. Romania is not a preferred destination for refugees and some people who were officially asylum seekers in Romania have been caught while trying to leave the country illegally in the last year. The European Commission launched on June 13 the infringement procedures against Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic for refusing to take in asylum seekers. “I regret to see that despite our repeated calls to pledge and relocate, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have not yet taken the necessary action. For this reason, the Commission has decided to launch infringement procedures against these three states,” said Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. Only 0.1% of total asylum seekers in EU apply for Romania editor@romania-insider.com