There is a need for speed in the refugee crisis

SIMON COVENEY joined his fellow EU ministers for Justice yesterday in Brussels yesterday as they gathered in an attempt to speed up implementation of measures recently agreed to tackle the refugee crisis.

The EU border agency Frontex needs around 800 extra staff from national capitals, but it has received less than half that number. The relocation of refugees is also going slowly with the first flights from Greece only taking place last week.

It is more than two months since member states agreed to provide more personnel for Frontex, as well billions of euro in aid for countries in the Middle East and Africa in order to try to stem the flow of migrants.

That was a time when Europe’s front pages were dominated by the photo of a dead Syrian child who drowned as his family attempted to reach the shores of Greece.

That haunting image galvanised the politicians into doing what politicians under pressure usually do — make promises. But, with winter approaching, it is now time for action.

Otherwise the crisis will become a catastrophe.