Britain says Med migrants should be turned back
Brussels (AFP) - Britain called Wednesday for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to be turned back, threatening to scupper a new European Union plan for quotas to redistribute migrants across the continent.
The comments came as the European Commission was set to unveil president Jean-Claude Juncker's blueprint for dealing with an unprecedented wave of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in North Africa and the Middle East.
The plan's most controversial elements are a mandatory redistribution of asylum seekers across the 28-member European Union and the use of European military force against smugglers in Libyan waters, according to a draft seen by AFP.
But British interior minister Theresa May said London would take no part in the quota scheme and said it would only encourage more people to make the dangerous sea crossing and risk their lives.
"I disagree with the suggestion by the EU’s High Representative, Federica Mogherini, that 'no migrants' intercepted at sea should be 'sent back against their will'," May wrote in The Times newspaper.
She added: "We cannot do anything which encourages more people to make these perilous journeys -- or which makes it easier for the gangs responsible for their misery. That is why the UK will not participate in a mandatory system of resettlement or relocation." ...
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