Italy calls for EU to share asylum burden

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Italy, which has faced sharp criticism for pushing back asylum seekers, said Thursday the European Union should have a system obliging member states to share the burden by taking in migrants.

Northern member states of the European Union have been reluctant to meet such calls from southern members like Italy and Malta, where most asylum seekers arrive from Africa, arguing that they are already overburdened.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said before a meeting with EU counterparts in Luxembourg that recent proposals from the executive European Commission on asylum were "interesting, but ... not sufficient."

"We asked for obligatory burden sharing, the proposal foresees a voluntary system -- so those who don't want to needn't take in any refugees," he told reporters.

In a Financial Times interview published Thursday, Malta's Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi called the Commission proposals a step forward, but expressed disappointment that fellow EU states had not agreed to take on asylum seekers.

Maroni said Libya, to where Italy has returned migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean, had given him concrete requests for help from Europe to fight illegal immigration and he would pass these to EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

Barrot has criticised Italy's recent decision to return migrant ships intercepted on the voyage across the Mediterranean from Libya, saying it did not distinguish between illegal migrants and those deserving asylum.

He has proposed that the European Union work with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to set up screening centres for asylum seekers in Africa to stop them falling into the clutches of human-trafficking networks.

He has urged UNHCR to work with Libya to establish a scheme for receiving and protecting asylum seekers that meets international standards.

Maroni has argued that Italy's policy is working and the arrival of migrant boats from north Africa has practically stopped, but it has been sharply criticised by non-governmental organizations dealing with refugees.

Wednesday, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a network of 69 refugee assisting organizations in 30 countries, said Italy should face sanctions under EU rules for "flagrant violation" of human rights principles.

Almost 70 percent of the 31,200 asylum requests in Italy last year came from immigrants who arrived on its southern shores, according to UNHCR figures.