EU states urged to meet refugee relocation pledge

The European Union's top migration official on Monday urged member-states to meet their refugee relocation pledges by September and help alleviate the pressure on countries such as Greece and Italy which have borne the brunt of arrivals across the Mediterranean.

Fewer than 14,500 asylum seekers have been relocated under the two-year plan that was supposed to cover 160,000 people and expires in September.

Speaking ahead of an EU Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels yesterday, Avramopoulos, the EU's commissioner for migration and home affairs, said that Europe must offer protection to those who need it, adding however that undocumented migrants must return to their home countries.

"We must build a Europe that is safe for all its citizens," the Greek official said, adding that strengthening security on the bloc's external border and cooperation with...