Thirteenth report on relocation and resettlement

This report outlines the urgent actions that still need to be taken to relocate all those eligible who are currently present in Italy and Greece in the coming months as well as to meet the resettlement objectives.

The first five months of 2017 have witnessed a significant increase in the pace of relocation. Since January almost 10,300 people had been relocated. This is more than a fivefold increase compared to the same period of 2016 by when only 1,600 persons had been relocated. This is the result of procedures becoming fully operational during the second half of 2016, the majority of Member States currently pledging on a regular basis and the continued efforts from the two beneficiary Member States to improve mutual cooperation and trust.

As a consequence, in May 2017, more than 1,000 people were relocated from Italy, the highest number so far, and close to the monthly targets set, bringing the total number of people relocated from Italy to 6,896. However, more efforts by Italy are needed to identify and register for relocation all those present in Italy and rapidly channel to relocation new eligible arrivals.

In Greece, where the number of people to be relocated is expected to remain stable (27,208 people registered for relocation), monthly relocations have stabilised at 1,300 bringing the total number of people relocated from Greece to 13,973. About 11,000 still need to be relocated. To this end, Member States have agreed on a specific operational planning and it is expected that, on the basis of this planning and with the current pace of pledging, the target of 3,000 relocations per month will be reached in July and sustained until September.

In total, more than 20,000 people have been relocated so far. While most of the Member States are now contributing fairly and proportionally to the implementation of the scheme, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic in breach of their legal obligations are neither pledging nor relocating from Greece and Italy.

Relocation remains a key measure to alleviate the pressure on Greece and Italy by sharing the responsibility in dealing with applicants clearly in need of international protection. Member States should not lessen their efforts as the current pace of relocation is still insufficient to relocate all those eligible by September 2017. However, Member States' legal obligations do not stop at that moment; the Council Decisions apply to persons arriving on the territory of Greece and Italy until 26 September 2017. Therefore, the relocation procedure must still be carried out by the Member States for eligible applicants within a reasonable timeframe thereafter.

The implementation of the July 2015 Conclusions to resettle 22,504 people is still on track with over two thirds of the agreed number already resettled.

ESO: Background information: European Agenda on Migration: Commission calls on all parties to sustain progress and make further efforts http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-agenda-on-migration-commission-calls-on-all-parties-to-sustain-progress-and-make-further-efforts/

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