The European Union starts plan to relocate 160,000 migrants

THE European Union started the proposed plan to transfer the 160,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other EU countries on November 4.

European leaders agreed to relocate asylum seekers that have fled into Greece and Italy. According to statistics released by the European Commission, the scheme that was proposed six weeks earlier has only just started.

The plan, which has progressed slowly, only included 1,418 places available in EU states for migrants to be transferred to. According to the European Commission, so far, only 116 people have been moved as of November 4.

Migration spokeswoman for the European Commission, Tove Ernst told CNN: “The system is now up and running — the first flight from Greece [has left] and there were already several flights from Italy — and we’re hoping that progress on the ground and progress with member states will be made swiftly.”

More than 218,000 migrants have fled to Europe in October across the Mediterranean Sea compared to 216,000 all of last year, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said.