The European Union came to an early agreement on new regulations on Wednesday. These regulations aim to limit the number of immigrants entering the country and more fairly distribute the costs and labor of hosting migrants.
After late-night negotiations, members of the European Parliament and EU states agreed on a set of EU regulations known as the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is set to go into effect early next year.
The regulations address screening irregular migrants upon their arrival in the EU, how asylum claims are handled, which EU nation is in charge of processing them, and crisis management techniques.
Previous attempts to distribute the burden of hosting migrants have failed because members of the EU, particularly those in the east, were unwilling to accept refugees who had arrived in Greece, Italy, and other nations.
Countries that are not near the border will now have to decide whether to contribute to an EU fund or receive refugees under the new arrangement.
The proposed screening mechanism aims to differentiate individuals who require international protection from those who do not.
Individuals whose applications for asylum are unlikely to be granted, such as those from Turkey, India, or Tunisia, may be stopped from entering the EU and held at the border, as well as those who are thought to pose a security risk.
Refugee rights organizations claim that it will result in the establishment of prison camps at the borders of the EU.
