EU to hold migrant crisis discussions

 

European Union (EU) interior ministers are to discuss how to deal with tens of thousands of migrants trying to enter Europe each year by crossing the Mediterranean.

A key issue at the talks in Luxembourg is a plan to distribute asylum seekers more evenly across all 28 EU states.

The crisis has put a huge strain on Italian, Greek and Maltese resources.

But some northern and eastern European nations argue that migrants should not be forced to move to countries where they do not want to settle.

More than 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean so far this year – a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.