Brussels, 30/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - Although the European summit had made a commitment to make all the identification and registration hotspots operational by the end of November for migrants arriving in the EU, the European Commission confirmed on Monday 30 November, that only the hotspots in Lampedusa (Italy) and Lesbos (Greece) were so far the only ones fully operational.
According to the European plan, Greece should have set up five hotspot zones by the end of November (Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos) and Italy should have created six centres (Lampedusa, Pozzallo, Porto Empedocle, Augusta, Taranto and Trapani) (see EUROPE 11411).
According to the most recent assessment, one out of five hotspots is fully operational in Greece, together with officials from the Frontex and EASO agencies (54 from Frontex, 1 from EASO and 4 national experts). In the other Greek hotspots, the number of Frontex agents stands at 15 in Chios and 9 in Leros.
In Italy, 15 Frontex officials are in Lampedusa and 2 national experts are working for EASO, according to a Commission graph.
These difficulties have had repercussions on the refugee relocation schemes in the EU from Greece and Italy, which have remained blocked over the past few weeks, with only 159 people being relocated. The Netherlands has made a commitment to taking 100 people but no deadline has yet been set.
On Monday, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Immigration, Dimitris Avramopoulos travelled to Sweden where he met the Swedish Minister for Justice and Immigration, Morgan Johansson and the Minister for Home Affairs, Anders Ygeman, to assess the current situation. Sweden has officially requested a provision when the 160,000 refugees in the EU are distributed (see EUROPE 11394). Sweden has requested the mechanism so that it can send refugees to other European countries who have arrived in Sweden.
A discussion on the progress made with the measures taken by the EU 28 since May, particularly the relocation measures, is planned for the Home Secretaries' meeting on 4 December in Brussels. This could provide an opportunity for another examination of the reasons for member states' delays in setting up the hotspots and the slow progress made in the relocation schemes. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)