The International Organization for Migration (IOM) welcomes the announcements by the European Council to significantly increase resources for humanitarian assistance in neighbouring countries to Syria as well as the Justice and Home Affairs Council decision to relocate an additional 120,000 people.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing on Thursday said Europe's decision is long overdue, and comes as the logical response after the world community waited far too long to face up to its responsibility to tackle conditions in Syria and other trouble zones.

"Now we must act," said Mr. Swing. "To prod all sides in these conflicts to begin work towards a political solution to the Syria crisis and begin to manage the migration flow that has brought hundreds of thousands of desperate people to Europe's shores."

“There is no real system. We don’t know who all these people are,” said Gianluca Rocco, IOM’s Western Balkans coordinator.

“This is a humanitarian issue,” he added, noting that people with a good case for refugee status, such as those fleeing Syria as well as vulnerable unaccompanied migrants risk getting overlooked if a good system to register the migrants and assess their needs is not quickly put in place .

DG Swing expressed caution voiced by others that the relocation plan now being discussed will not put an end to the current challenges. It hopefully will be the beginning of a solution.

IOM said it is ready to expand its current efforts to work at entry points in Europe, assisting its member states to receive, assist, register and screen people.

For the latest data on arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit Missing Migrants Project: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For further information, please contact Leonard Doyle at Tel: +41 79 285 71 23, Email: ldoyle@iom.int