(AP) Europe continued its decade-old struggle Thursday to devise a migration system that would both better protect its extensive borders and avoid tragedies like last month’s shipwreck off Italy, which killed at least 70 migrants.
Interior ministers from the European Union’s 27 members remained mired in technical talks that aim to revamp the bloc’s migration and asylum system by spring 2024 — at the earliest.
“As you can see, this is not moving fast enough when we look at the tragic events in Italy a few days ago,” said Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner.
In Europe, humanitarian tragedies and the plight of people fleeing persecution in countries like Afghanistan and Syria often take second seat to populist rhetoric about overcrowding, loss of national identity and the cost of housing migrants.
