EU ministers to hold extraordinary meeting on migrant crisis

The EU presidency said interior ministers from all 28 member states would hold an extraordinary meeting on 14 September.

The presidency, currently held by Luxembourg, said the “extraordinary justice and home affairs” meeting will be held in Brussels.

A statement announcing the meeting said: “The situation of migration phenomena outside and inside the European Union has recently taken unprecedented proportions.

“In order to assess the situation on the ground, the political actions under way and to discuss the next steps in order to strengthen the European response, the Luxembourg Minister for Immigration and Asylum Jean Asselborn decided to convene an extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council.”

This comes after Home Secretary Theresa May released a joint statement with her counterparts from Paris and Berlin calling for an urgent meeting to deal with the migrant crisis.

The number of migrants crossing EU boarders more than tripled in July and there is “unprecedented pressure” on boarder control authorities in Italy, Greece and Hungary.

The latest figures from European boarder management agency, Frontex, show that in July the number of migrants crossing boarders in a single month surpassed 100,000 for the first time.

Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said: “This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders.”

Hungary and Austria have stepped up boarder control in a bid to tackle the migrant crisis after 71 refugees were found dead in an abandoned lorry on an Austrian highway last week after travelling through Hungary.

Under the new operation along the boarders, Austrian authorities have uncovered around 200 asylum seekers and arrested five traffickers.

However, tighter security checks have caused 12 mile tailbacks on a Hungarian motorway leading to Austria.

Over the past three days, Hungarian police have caught 8,792 migrants crossing the border through the M1 motorway and have arrested a fifth suspect in connection to the migrant bodies found in the abandoned lorry.