Dublin rules on asylum 'obsolete' German chancellor says

(ANSA) - Strasbourg, October 7 - The refugee crisis facing Europe has made the Dublin regulations on political asylum in the EU "obsolete", German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the European Parliament on Wednesday.
    "I am committed to working on a new procedure that complies with the demands of equity and solidarity," Merkel said. Under the Dublin rules asylum applications must be handled by the first country of entry, which rarely coincides with the country where asylum seekers want to end up.
    This, combined with the large influx of refugees and migrants into Europe in recent months and their determination to reach their final destination, has led the system to near-collapse. "More Europe is needed to tackle the migrant crisis, not national approaches," continued Merkel, however adding that "economic migrants cannot stay". "That way we can help those fleeing from war," she said. The creation of a "free state" in Libya and Syria and "the restitution of a dignified life in refugees' home countries without the terror of bombs and death is a European task but also a global one", the German chancellor said. "Our message today is that Europe must make a decisive contribution to the resolution of these crises," she concluded.