Some EU countries 'closed' to migration, says Italian official

Rome, Nov 8 (IANS/AKI) While Italy keeps fighting hard to manage the influx of migrants in the Mediterranean, a "closed" attitude by some European countries is compounding this task and hampering dialogue, a top Italian government official said.

"We encounter a closed attitude from Europe. Even though Italy has fought and continues to fight tooth and nail, big problems remain and with certain European Union countries, dialogue is truly complicated," said Mario Marcone, who heads the Italian Interior Ministry's Immigration Department.

He was referring to the EU's failure to relocate 160,000 refugees who arrived in Italy and Greece - a figure agreed by EU leaders in September 2015.

In September, less than 28,000 people had been relocated to other EU countries - in the face of opposition from several Eastern European countries notably Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Romania also voted against the quota scheme.

--IANS/AKI

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