BRUSSELS, June 25 (UPI) -- European leaders have rejected a plan by the European Union to implement a mandatory quota system to relocate some 40,000 migrants who have entered the continent through Greece and Italy in recent months.
EU leaders met in a summit Thursday to discuss a program to deal with the influx of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Balkans.
"The idea that Brussels imposes quotas is not going to fly," a senior EU official said. "It will never gather the support of the member states."
Though Britain has said it has no interest in taking in more refugees, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday "we need a comprehensive and coordinated response, and Britain will play its role."
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Leaders are expected to come up with a system on how to share the asylum seekers by next month in an effort to relieve the burden on Italy. Most migrants arrive in the EU through Italy after crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya.
"We have no consensus among member states on mandatory quotas for migrants," Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, told The Guardian. "It will take much time to build a new European consensus on migration."
Frontex, the EU's border agency, says the number of asylum seekers arriving at the 28-country bloc's external borders since the beginning of the year has increased by 149 percent over the same period of time in 2014.
In May, the total number of migrants rose by 26 percent compared to April.
"First and foremost, we need to contain illegal migration and this should be our priority. All those who are not legitimate asylum seekers will have no guarantee that they will stay in Europe,'' Tusk said.
Meanwhile, a Swedish coast guard vessel on Thursday brought ashore 500 migrants -- many from Syria -- in Italy. Another 400 were rescued by a Belgian navy ship off the coast of Libya. Italian ships rescued 3,700 migrants on Monday and Tuesday, London's Channel 4 News reported.
