BRUSSELS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Tuesday proposed tripling funding for migration and border management to almost 35 billion euros (41 billion U.S. dollars) in the European Union (EU)'s next multi-year budget period (2021-2027).
During the previous budget period, the EU earmarked 13 billion euros for migration and border management.
The proposal to increase the funding is "a response to increased migratory, mobility and security challenges," according to a Commission press release.
It was tabled at a time when a rescue vessel with more than 629 migrants and refugees on board was turned away by Italy before Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday allowed the ship to dock in Spain.
EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, speaking at a press conference in Strasbourg, France after the meeting of the college of commissioners, said the incident "reminded us once again that migration is not just a theoretical discussion."
"What the past three years have taught us is that we have to be prepared, because we can not afford another repetition of 2015," said the commissioner, referring to the peak year of the refugee crisis that saw more than one million irregular migrants flock to Europe via different routes.
"We have our European fundamental values to defend and uphold, but not at the expense of our security or our cohesion," he said.
He said the fund will be used to support member states in three critical areas -- a more streamlined and efficient asylum procedure, more investments in integration, and a more effective and enforceable return policy.
"These three priorities go hand in hand with another overarching and shared goal of the European Union: stronger external borders," said the commissioner.
"We cannot continue the political ping-pong on who is finally responsible for shouldering the responsibility of migration or protecting external borders, because we all are," he said.
