Vilnius, 18/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - In Vilnius on Thursday 18 July, the issue of Syrian refugees was once again taken up by the home affairs ministers of the 28, who again discussed the situation in the neighbouring countries to Syria at a meeting attended by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The meeting also discussed the situation of asylum seekers in the EU. Germany and Sweden are among the countries which currently have the most favourable policies towards the Syrian refugees. Finland, according to one source, also pledged on Thursday to accept refugees on its soil. Most of the refugees from the war in Syria are, however, in the neighbouring countries, the EU having taken only a few thousand of the 1.8 million people at least who have fled the conflict. The talks focused on the need to set in place regional protection programmes and, in default of this, to ensure a proper European programme for the resettlement of Syrian refugees and also on the importance for the 28 of applying the same asylum policy to these people. “The discussions focused on ways of providing protection to refugees who are not political refugees and to allow them to remain on the territory”, the same source explained. These refugees may, for example, be granted humanitarian visas. The ministers stressed the importance of not placing these refugees under detention when they arrive in the EU, as is the case in Greece, for instance. On 24 June, the EU announced additional aid of €400 million to Syria and the neighbouring countries. (SP/transl.fl)