EU migrant crisis: Britain won't take in Mediterranean refugees

The British government has come under fire for opting out of a voluntary scheme to resettle thousands of refugees arriving in Europe.

During heated talks at the EU summit in Brussels, European leaders hoping to come up with a solution to Mediterranean migrant crisis refused to accept mandatory quotas, but agreed on a voluntary intake scheme.

In order to relieve the pressure from southern European countries, members agreed to resettle 40,000 refugees now in Italy and Greece and another 20,000 people currently outside the EU.

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The resettlement will only apply to refugees and asylum seekers and "migrants with no legal right to enter the EU will be returned", said the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk.

But Britain and a handful of other European nations, including Hungary and Poland, have chosen not to take part in the resettlement scheme.

David Cameron now faces growing criticism for closing Britain's doors to vulnerable refugees, many of whom are fleeing war and conflict in North Africa and the Middle East.

UN special representative Peter Sutherland urged all member states to do their part in dealing with the humanitarian crisis.

"This is a question basically of European solidarity," he told BBC Radio 4's Today show. "Why should Greece and particularly Italy take this unfair burden of responsibility for people who are refugees escaping from persecution?"

Last week, Home Secretary Theresa May said migrants crossing the Mediterranean should be forcibly sent back as a deterrent and to show there was "no merit" in coming to Europe, reports the Daily Mail.

David Cameron insisted that the UK “will play its role" in dealing with the crisis. "Already, it is the Royal Navy picking up people in the Mediterranean [and] British aid is doing a huge amount to stabilise African countries" he said.