I cannot speculate as to the positions different Member States will ultimately take in respect of the various proposals put forward in response to the migration crisis in the Mediterranean. However, the consensus both from the emergency joint meeting of EU Foreign and Interior Affairs Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, 20 April 2015, attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and myself and the special European Council in Brussels on Thursday, 23 April 2015, attended by the Taoiseach, was that the EU and its Member States needed to take urgent action on a broad front, even if there is disagreement on certain individual elements of the solution.
The Council Conclusions agreed on 23 April 2015 set out broad priorities which focused on strengthening Europe’s presence at sea, fighting traffickers in accordance with international law, preventing illegal migration flows and reinforcing internal solidarity and responsibility.
Last week the European Commission published the European Agenda on Migration (EAM) which has been adapted to reflect the current situation and the need for urgent action. The EAM outlines the immediate measures agreed in response to the situation in the Mediterranean as well as the longer term measures necessary to re-balance all aspects of Europe's approach to migration. Included among the measures is funding for Regional Development and Protection Programmes for North Africa and the Horn of Africa.
In terms of immediate actions the two main proposals relate to resettlement and relocation. The Commission indicated that they will be recommending an EU resettlement scheme by the end of May for 20,000 places. This number will be distributed among Member States in accordance with several clearly defined criteria (Ireland’s proposed share will be 1.36% or 272 persons). Participation would be voluntary, given that there are no existing powers under EU law to compel Member States to participate, but; depending on the approach adopted by Member States the Commission may bring forward binding and mandatory legislative proposals to cover the period beyond 2016.
In line with our regular commitment on resettlement, Ireland had already agreed to resettle 220 refugees over the next two years. However, the Taoiseach had indicated at the special European Council in April 2015 that we would re-examine this commitment in view of the deteriorating situation in the Mediterranean. Rather than waiting until the proposals announced in the European Agenda on Migration to be discussed formally by Home Affairs Ministers in June 2015, last Wednesday (13 May 2015), I announced that the Government had agreed in principle to resettle an additional 300 vulnerable people as our contribution to this important European initiative. This brings our total commitment on resettlement to the end of 2016 to five hundred and twenty (520) people, or nearly twice the quota of two hundred and seventy two (272) proposed by the Commission for Ireland.
This is in addition to support under the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Programme (SHAP) which grants temporary permission, of up to two years duration, to vulnerable close family members of either naturalised Irish citizens of Syrian birth or Syrian nationals already lawfully residing in the State. By the end of 2014 one hundred and fourteen (114) such family members had been granted permission under this scheme. In addition, Syrian nationals legally resident in Ireland, for example, students or persons on work permission's may apply for an extension of their permission to remain in the State while the crisis situation continues.
Relocation is a complicated issue and there are different perspectives among Member States. To deal with the situation in the Mediterranean the Commission is now proposing to trigger the emergency response mechanism under Article 78.3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU via a proposal to be published by the end of May 2015. This proposal will include a distribution mechanism for persons in clear need of international protection. Such persons would have their asylum claim considered in the receiving Member State. Until we see the details of what the Commission is proposing it would be premature to comment further at this point.
