The Home Affairs Ministry yesterday said it was reviewing European Commission proposals for overhauling the asylum relocation mechanism.

The Commission yesterday proposed obliging member states to resettle migrants from countries receiving a ‘disproportionate’ number of applications or else pay a fine of €250,000 for every migrant they refuse.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela told the Times of Malta that “in principle” Malta supported the initiatives, which were intended to ensure solidarity among member states.

When it came to the issue of asylum and ensuring a more equitable distribution of asylum seekers, Malta supported progress, he said.

The proposals will next be discussed within the European Parliament and Council. Mr Abela said Malta was evaluating the relevant dossiers to draw up a detailed position for these negotiations.

Poland and Slovakia immediately rejected the proposals yesterday, with Slovakia’s foreign minister saying the proposal “sets us back nine months and does not respect the reality”.

It sets us back nine months and does not respect the reality

The proposals would assign each member state, except for the UK, which has been granted an opt-out, a percentage quota of all asylum seekers in the EU that it would be expected to handle.

Quotas would reflect nat-ional population and wealth and, if a country found itself handling 50 per cent more than its due share, it could relocate people elsewhere.

If a member state refused to relocate its allocated share, it would be obliged to pay the overburdened state €250,000 for every migrant it refused.

The “corrective fairness mechanism” would complement the existing Dublin II regulation that requires all migrants arriving on EU soil to remain in the first member state they arrive in.

MEP Roberta Metsola yesterday said the proposed changes were a sign of progress. “While we are not there yet, there is an understanding in Brussels that member states on the frontline should not have to face disproportionate pressure on their systems alone.”

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