Timothy Kirkhope, ECR home affairs spokesman, has warned that the European Commission’s proposals issued today on the introduction of migrant quotas will not solve Europe’s migration crisis.

Timothy Kirkhope, ECR home affairs spokesman, has warned that the European Commission’s proposals issued today on the introduction of migrant quotas will not solve Europe’s migration crisis.

He feels strongly that legally binding quotas will not help stem the flow of people into Europe.

Mr Kirkhope, who is a former UK immigration minister, stresses that we need to go to the source of the problem: it is important that we do what we can to help create stability in North Africa, while also assisting the arrival countries.

He said: “True solidarity cannot be created through compulsion alone, and binding quotas oversimplify the solution for such a complex situation.

“We need a dynamic and adroit response to ensure that policies are drawn up which mean asylum seekers are processed quickly. An efficient returns policy for those not granted asylum must also be put in place.

“Just as importantly, we must create a strategy which tackles the problems at source. We need to work with police forces in third countries, to train them to identify, investigate and prosecute human traffickers and organised criminal groups.

“Whilst legal migration forms part of the European Commission’s wider migration strategy, I do not believe that we can solve the problems we have seen in the Mediterranean and address the huge numbers of refugees through further forms of legal migration. There needs to be a clear differentiation between economic migrants and those seeking genuine asylum in order for Europe’s asylum approach to work effectively and efficiently.”