MEP Roberta Metsola has urged the EU Commissioner-Designate Dimitris Avramopoulos to deliver an equitable system of distribution of migrants among EU states and review the Dublin Regulation.

She met Mr Avramopoulos during a sitting of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg. 

Mr Avramopoulos pledged cooperation and close contact with the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, of which Dr Metsola is a member and part of the Coordinating team of the European People's Party.

He said he understood the issues Malta and other Mediterranean States face in the field of migration and asylum.

INSTABILITY HELPING THE PEOPLE SMUGGLERS

During the parliamentary sitting, Labour MEP Miriam Dalli said instability in Libya was helping the criminal gangs who organised migration to Europe. One of the consequences was the tragic loss of many lives in the Mediterranean, with up to 700 having been reported missing over the past few weeks.

Ms Dalli called on the EU to address the situation through coordinated action which also helped ease the pressure on frontier states such as Malta and Italy.

She also urged the international community to commit itself to seeking a ceasefire in Libya, followed by assistance to get that country back on its feet.

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