Italy: Don’t want to take migrants? Then you pay

Migrants and refugees crowd the tracks of a railway station used as a makeshift camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Thursday, May 5, 2016. AP

ROME — A top aide to Italian Premier Matteo Renzi says Rome supports a proposal by the European Union’s executive to fine nations for refusing migrants they were supposed to accept.

Fewer than 600 of 40,000 asylum-seekers who were supposed to be relocated from Italy to other EU countries have been transferred since October.

On Thursday, the European Commission proposed that countries refusing to accept migrants should face fines of 250,000 euros ($287,000) per person rejected.

Undersecretary for European Affairs Sandro Gozi said Thursday that Italy backs the proposal.

He says it’s “unacceptable” some didn’t honor their obligation to accept asylum-seekers who were supposed to be relocated from Italy, Greece and Hungary. TVJ