EU ministers agree common asylum rules

All EU countries will apply the same rules to people seeking asylum following a deal agreed by justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg last night.

Aimed at keeping illegal immigrants out, the raft of new standards have been criticised by Amnesty International and a host of organisations as offering no protection to refugees and breaking international laws and standards.

The ministers were facing a deadline of May 1 to agree the set of rules and Justice Minister Michael McDowell, who chaired the meeting, said the agreement was of immense importance.