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  • Brussels is said to tear up its rulebook on asylum

  • in a move that is likely to give British Prime Minister David Cameron a major headache.

  • The EU decides who's responsible for refugee based on something called the Dublin regulation,

  • which the European commission is set to scrap in March just as the Brexit campaign will be heating up.

  • But what do the rules say currently?

  • The law is pretty simple.

  • Refugee is supposed to apply for asylum in the first safe country they get to,

  • and that country is then responsible for processing the application.

  • If the refugee pops to be in a separate country having already applied for asylum in another,

  • he can quickly be sent back to the first country.

  • But what's going wrong with this?

  • The Dublin rule heats pressure on the countries on the EU's borders, especially Greece and Italy.

  • More than one million people have passed through the two countries in 2015 on their way to Northern Europe.

  • Brussels is set to scrap this "first country of entry" principle

  • and instead opt to share applications more evenly.

  • But why does this affect Britain?

  • The U.K. is allowed to pick-and-choose which EU migration rules it abides by

  • Britain has opted into the Dublin regulation partly because it allows them to deport asylum seekers

  • if they've been registered in another country.

  • This is an ability that the government is keen to keep.

  • But Brussels is likely to propose refugee sharing scheme in place of the current Dublin rules.

  • For David Cameron has a choice:

  • lose the ability to deport refugees easily,

  • potentially facing taking in extra,

  • or try to fight and find another special deal for Britain and Brussels.

  • In any case, the Prime Minister faces a tough few months.

Brussels is said to tear up its rulebook on asylum

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