European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed a new refugee quota plan as the European Union struggles to deal with the volume of migrants entering Europe. Mark Kelly reports. Image: AFP 
 
 STRASBOURG, France—Faced with the largest migration of displaced people since the end of World War II, the European Union proposed to redistribute 160,000 refugees across the bloc, in a move bound to challenge countries with scant experience accommodating newcomers. 
 
 The EU has sputtered in previous attempts to craft a coherent approach to the crisis amid competing national interests and insistence by some countries—particularly in the poorer East—that accepting refugees must be voluntary. 
 
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 The president of the European Commission has called on EU member nations to take in 160,000 refugees, outlining a compulsory plan that would see people fleeing conflict resettled across the bloc. 
 
 Noting that many Europeans were refugees at one time or another, Juncker continued, “It is high time to act, to manage the refugee crisis, because there is no alternative. No rhetoric — action is what is needed for the time.” 
 
 “We are fighting against Islamic State. Why are we not ready to accept those who are fleeing Islamic State?” he said. 
 
 “The refugee crisis will not simply go away,” he added, noting that some 500,000 refugees have entered Europe this year , many from conflict-torn Syria and Libya. 
 
 In an impassioned appeal at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Jean-Claude Juncker told European lawmakers that it was “high time to act.” 
 
 ‘It is high time to act, to manage the refugee crisis, because there is no alternative. No rhetoric – action is what is needed for the time.’ 
 
 In his proposal, Juncker wants member states to accept another 120,000 refugees, on top of the 40,000 already agreed upon, bringing the total to 160,000. 
 
 He did not, however, release specific numbers that each EU member state must take. Member states have been split over how to deal with increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict and arriving in Europe, with many objecting to a quota system. 
 
 Hungary in particular has been singled out by other member states — notably France and Germany — for what has been described as its harsh policy toward refugees. It is in the process of completing a 13-foot-high steel and barbed wire security fence along the entirety of its 109-mile border with Serbia in a bid to keep refugees out. 
 
 Last week Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country “did not want a large number of Muslim people.” 
 
 Tackling such sentiment in Wednesday’s speech, Juncker said, “There is no religion, there is no belief, there is no philosophy when it comes to refugees. We don’t distinguish.” 
 
 Before his speech, Juncker released a statement offering better protection for refugees but also proposing to improve the EU’s frontier defenses and deport more “illegal migrants.” He also called for “a swift, determined and comprehensive response to the refugee crisis.” 
 
 Germany, which hosts the most refugees, has already backed the idea, as has Sweden, which takes the most refugees in relation to its population. 
 
 Italy, which is one of the main arrival points for thousands of refugees crossing the Mediterranean, is also in favor. France supports the plan, as does Spain, which AFP reported agreed to take in 14,931 refugees, as proposed by the European Commission, in addition to 2,749 who were accepted in July, bringing the country’s total to 17,680. 
 
 Under the proposal, countries refusing to take in refugees could face financial penalties. 
 
 But the plan is expected to meet stiff opposition among the poorer EU nations in the east and south. 
 
 The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia have joined Hungary in saying that mandatory and permanent quotas would be unacceptable. 
 
 “The compulsory quotas are not a good solution,” Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in a statement. “To continue with a discussion about their establishment all across Europe only prevents us from taking really important and necessary steps.” 

 BRUSSELS (AP) — The President of the European Union's executive on Wednesday called for the emergency relocation of 120,000 people in need of international protection who have entered the EU through Italy, Greece and Hungary to 22 of the EU's 28 nations. Britain, Denmark and Ireland are not legally obliged to take part, but may choose to; Italy, Greece and Hungary are excluded because of the numbers of migrants already in those countries. 
 
 The refugee sharing plan is similar to a scheme announced in April to relocate 40,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. That proposal was never fully accepted, and EC President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday that 500,000 migrants are believed to have arrived so far this year. 
 
 Here is what the spread of the 120,000 refugees among EU countries would be should they agree by a large majority to accept the new plan: 
 
 Austria 3,640 
 
 Belgium 4,564 
 
 Bulgaria 1,600 
 
 Croatia 1,064 
 
 Cyprus 274 
 
 Czech Republic 2,978 
 
 Estonia 373 
 
 Finland 2,398 
 
 France 24,031 
 
 Germany 31,443 
 
 Latvia 526 
 
 Lithuania 780 
 
 Luxembourg 440 
 
 Malta 133 
 
 Netherlands 7,214 
 
 Poland 9,287 
 
 Portugal 3,074 
 
 Romania 4,646 
 
 Slovakia 1,502 
 
 Slovenia 631 
 
 Spain 14,931 
 
 Sweden 4,469
– The president of the European Commission floated a simple question today to the EU's member nations. "We are fighting against Islamic State, why are we not ready to accept those who are fleeing Islamic State?" asked Jean-Claude Juncker, per Al Jazeera America. After the scolding, Juncker called on the nations to accept another 120,000 refugees, with each nation getting a quota based on its size, unemployment rate, and other factors. Germany, for instance, would take in another 31,000, France 24,000, etc., reports the Guardian, which provides the full breakdown. That's on top of a previous goal of 40,000 refugees. The plan needs to be approved by a majority of EU governments, notes the Wall Street Journal. "Europe today is an island of hope for the people in the Middle East fleeing war and oppression," says Juncker. "This is something to be proud of, not something to fear." The idea is to help frontline nations Greece, Italy, and Hungary handle the influx. The UK, Ireland, and Denmark wouldn't be legally bound to do so because they have opt-outs from the EU's asylum system, but they may do so anyway, reports the AP. EU interior ministers meet next week in Brussels and could approve the new quota system then.