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Refugee crisis: Council of the European Union Central Med Route, Relocation and IPCR 11.6.16

Topic

01 June 2016

- Central Mediterranean route (LIMITE doc no: 8624-16, pdf) Written on 3 May before the arrival of thousands of refugees in Italy:

"due to the limited reception capacity in the hotspots, migrants are being transferred to larger reception centres. Due to the large number of migrants not eligible for international protection, the anticipated increase in arrivals during the summer months and difficulties with enforcing effective return, the pool of migrants in Italy and possibly Malta and elsewhere may increase. Without agreements on return, this will create an additional burden on those countries to handle the situation. All EU Member States have a responsibility to assist in this matter. Additionally, for the relatively small number of migrants eligible for relocation, continued and urgent efforts are still required."

- COUNCIL DECISION amending Decision (EU) 2015/1601 establishing provisional measures in the area of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece (LIMITE doc no: 8330-16, pdf):

"Member States may choose to meet their obligation by admitting to their territory Syrian nationals present in Turkey under national or multilateral legal admission schemes for persons in clear need of international protection, other than the resettlement scheme which was the subject of the Conclusions of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 20 July 2015. The number of persons so admitted by a Member State shall lead to a corresponding reduction of the obligation of the respective Member State."

- Refugee and Migration Crisis focused analysis of the use of the IPCR Web Platform between period of 1 October 2015 to 30 April 2016 (LIMITE doc no: 9398-16, pdf):

"Refugee and Migration Crisis focused analysis of the use of the IPCR Web Platform

This report presents an analysis of the use of the IPCR Web Platform with a specific emphasis on the Refugee and Migration crisis page. The creation of the monitoring page on this topic dates back to September 10, 2015. The IPCR was then activated in information sharing mode on October 30, 2015, leading to the creation of the crisis page (de facto replacing the monitoring page). The IPCR activation was then upgraded to full mode on November 9, 2015. The timeframe of the present analysis ranges from October 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016."

Note: It was not until 30 October 2015 that the Council Presidency launched this initiative: "The Council has taken over the last weeks a number of decisions to respond to the current migratory crisis. The scale of migratory flows has demonstrated the need for a more coordinated information sharing. The Luxembourg Presidency therefore decided on 30 October 2015 to trigger the Integrated Political Crisis Response (IPCR) arrangements on an "information sharing mode". The aim is to monitor the development of migratory flows, to support decision making and to better implement the agreed measures."

See: Another step after months and months of dithering: Entropy or incompetence? IPCR (Integrated Political Crisis Response) is the joint responsibility of the European Commission and European External Action Service (EEAS): Council of the European Union Press release: 30 October: Migratory crisis: EU Council Presidency steps up information sharing between member states by activating IPCR (pdf).