Germany Will Push for Compulsory E.U. Refugee Quotas

October 23, 2015 7:59 AM EDT

Germany is likely to push for compulsory, permanent E.U. quotas to resettle hundreds of thousands of people from the Middle East in Europe, The Guardian reports.

Like the European Commission, Berlin wants to make the proposed quota schemes “permanent and binding”, but more than half of the E.U.’s 28 member states are opposed. In September, E.U. leaders agreed to redistribute 160,000 asylum-seekers already in Greece and Italy between them – a fraction of the 615,000 people who have arrived in Europe so far this year.

According to the Guardian, policymakers in Berlin now say that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is keen to forge deals with third countries – notably Turkey, currently hosting 2.2 million Syrian refugees – to relocate large numbers of people directly into Europe. In return, countries like Turkey would have to commit to keeping all other migrants and refugees safely in camps – which means Europe would also need to give significant financial aid to Syria’s neighbors.

Berlin expects to take in one million refugees this year, but Merkel is increasingly looking to Turkey to help stem the flow, visiting Istanbul over the weekend to discuss plans.

Merkel has previously expressed her frustration with other European countries that have resisted pressure to take in refugees, amid the worst crisis the continent has seen since the end of the Second World War. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban, however, accused Merkel of “moral imperialism.” With European leaders divided over how to solve the crisis, an ambitious permanent scheme to resettle refugees is likely to remain far off.

These Photos Show the Massive Scale of Europe’s Migrant Crisis

Greece Migrants — Syrian and Afghan refugees warm themselves and dry their clothes around a fire after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, early on Oct. 7, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

migrant refugee greece — A migrant who recently arrived across the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey, watching a ferry in the port of Mytilene, Lesbos island, Greece, on Oct. 5, 2015.Zoltan Balogh—EPA

refugees migrants Lesbos Greek islands — An Afghan wades to the shore after arriving in an overloaded rubber dinghy on the coast near Skala Sikaminias, Lesbos island, Greece, Oct. 1, 2015. Filip Singer—EPA

Syrian refugees Lesbos Greece — Syrian refugees are covered with life blankets upon arriving to the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 28, 2015. Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty Images

migrants refugees Lesbos — Migrants and refugees arrive on Sykamia beach, west of the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 22, 2015. Iakovos Hatzistavrou—AFP/Getty Images

Croatia Migrants — Migrants and refugees board a train by climbing through the windows as they try to avoid a police barrier at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2015. Manu Brabo—AP

migrants hungary serbia border clash — A migrant holds his child during a clash with Hungarian riot police at the Horgos border crossing in Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015.Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times/Redux

migrants serbia — Migrants sleep on a highway in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015. Marko Djurica—Reuters

Hungary Serbia border — A wagon equipped with razor wire is placed at the border between Hungary and Serbia in Roszke, some 10 miles southeast from Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 14, 2015, to close the gap of the temporary border fence at the Horgos-Szeged railway line. Balazs Mohai—EPA

refugees migrants Lesbos — A refugee reacts from exhaustion while swimming towards the shore after a dinghy carrying Syrian and Afghan refugees before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, on Sept. 13, 2015. Alkis Konstantinidis—Reuters

refugees migrants Hungary — Syrian people sleep inside a greenhouse at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 13, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

Hungary Migrants refugees children — Syrian refugee Raed Alabdou, 24, holds his one-month old daughter Roa'a, while he and his wife hide in a field not to be seen by Hungarian policemen, after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP

refugees migrants macedonia — Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian police to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, on Sept. 10, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—Reuters

refugees migrants Morahalom Hungary — Migrants run over a motorway from a collection point that had been set up to transport people to camps in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 9, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images

syrian refugee migrant hungary — A young Syrian man from Damascus tries to evade the Hungarian police by sneaking through a forest close to the Serbian border in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 8, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images

refugees migrants Serbia — Migrants cross into Hungary as they walk over railroad tracks at the Serbian border with Hungary in Horgas, Serbia, on Sept. 7, 2015.Dan Kitwood— Getty Images

refugee migrant Lesbos — A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty Images

syrian refugees migrants greek coast guard — A migrant scrambles to climb back aboard a rubber dinghy full of his fellow Syrians as they try to cross from Turkey to the Greek islands on their way to claim asylum in the European Union, late on Sept. 6, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

Migrants walk along rail tracks as they arrive to a collection point in the village of Roszke, Hungary, on Sept. 6, 2015.Marko Djurica—Reuters

migrant refugees train macedonia — Migrant families ride a train from Gevgelija to the Serbian border in Macedonia, on Sept. 4, 2015.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images

Italy Migrants refugees — Migrants crowd the bridge of the Norwegian Siem Pilot ship sailing along the Mediterranean sea, on Sept. 2, 2015. Gregorio Borgia—AP

Aylan Kurdi boy drowned — A Turkish gendarme carries the body of Alan Kurdi, 3, who drowned along with his brother Galip, 5, and their mother, in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015.Reuters

Migrant crisis — Dozens of refugee families, mostly from Syria, camped near the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 2, 2015.Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME

refugees migrants Hungarian-Serbian border — A father of a migrants family is arrested by the local police near the village of Roszke on the Hungarian-Serbian border on Aug. 28, 2015.Attila Kisbender—AFP/Getty Images

Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, on Aug. 27, 2015. Bernadett Szabo—Reuters

Hungary border fence migrants refugees — Hungarian soldiers install a wire fence at the border between Hungary and Serbia near Hercegszanto, 115 miles southeast from Budapest, on Aug. 25, 2015. Tamas Soki—EPA

syrian migrant refugee girl greece — A little girl from Syria looks out of a bus as the ferry she arrived in is reflected in the bus window at the port of Piraeus, Greece, on Aug. 25, 2015. Petros Giannakouris—AP

Macedonian police clash with refugees at blocked border — Children cry as migrants waiting on the Greek side of the border break through a cordon of Macedonian special police forces to cross into Macedonia, near the southern city of Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Aug. 21, 2015.Georgi Licovski—EPA

Calais migrants — Gendarmerie attempt to prevent people from entering the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, Calais, France on July 30, 2015.Rob Stothard—Getty Images

Kos Migrants Greece — Life vests and a deflated dinghy are seen on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, following the arrival of Afghan immigrants, on May 30, 2015.Yannis Behrakis—Reuters

These Photos Show the Massive Scale of Europe’s Migrant Crisis

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