EU to overhaul ‘unfair’ asylum system

The EU is to overhaul an asylum system it says is “neither fair nor sustainable” as it grapples with the worst migration crisis since the Second World War.

Under the plan, the European Commission is asking EU countries to share the refugee burden in order to ease pressure on frontline states such as Greece and Italy.

“The current crisis has shown that the present system is not working,” said commission vice-president Frans Timmermans. “This is neither fair nor sustainable given the reality of the volumes of people, which have put a huge burden on just a very few number of member states.”