EU calls emergency talks to tackle escalating migrant crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - The European Union has called emergency talks on tackling the bloc's escalating migration crisis, BBC News reports.

The EU presidency said interior ministers from all 28 member states would hold an extraordinary meeting on September 14, and the crisis had reached "unprecedented proportions".

It follows a week that saw hundreds more people drown in the Mediterranean and 71 die in a lorry in Austria. A record number of 107,500 migrants reached the EU's borders last month.

The UN says the continuing conflict in Syria is a major factor behind the rise in numbers.

Greece, Italy and Hungary have particularly struggled with the stem of migrants from not only Syria but the rest of the Middle East and Africa.

Next month's extraordinary meeting was announced by late on Sunday, September 5 by Luxembourg, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

In July, the number of migrants that reached the EU's borders topped 100,000 for the first time - triple the number of people in July last year, according to European agency Frontex.

Discussion points will include internal co-operation, fighting the trafficking of migrants, and return policy. Germany, France and the UK have said the EU should establish a list of "safe countries of origin" that would allow immediate repatriation of some migrants.

On Saturday Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said much more was required to prevent the deaths of people fleeing to Europe and called for a "collective political response".

At least 2,500 migrants have died since January, most of them drowning in the Mediterranean.