EU falls short of migrant redistribution target

Baku. 21 July. REPORT.AZ/ EU ministers have fallen short of a target to agree the redistribution of 40,000 migrants who have arrived in Italy and Greece.

Report informs citing BBC, at a meeting in Brussels they agreed to start the relocation of just over 32,000 in October.

The allocation of the remainder will be decided by the end of the year, officials said.

About 150,000 migrants fleeing war and poverty are estimated to have reached Europe so far this year.

The majority have arrived in Greece and Italy where they are being looked after in overflowing camps.

Both countries have called on other EU states to share the burden.

The 40,000 figure was proposed by the European Commission following a shipwreck in the Mediterranean in April that left nearly 800 people dead.