Germany set 'to accept hundreds of migrants' from Italy

Italy: Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano says Germany has agreed to accept hundreds of migrants who are blocked in Italy, a move that might rekindle the European Union's failed relocation program.

Last year, the European Commission formulated a plan designed at moving thousands of migrants away from Italy and Greece to other EU members state as part of a deal to reduce pressure on Europe's front-line states in the migration crisis.

Under the plan, about 40,000 migrants could be relocated from Italy over two years, but only a few hundred have so far been relocated out of Italy with many EU member states apparently unwilling to take in asylum seekers and refugees.

Speaking to la Repubblica TV, Alfano said;

"Up until now, the relocation has been a real flop,"

"But today we have heard that from September hundreds of refugees will be able to go each month to Germany. If things go well with Germany, we think they will also go well with other countries," he said.

Official figures shows that Italy has taken in more than 420,000 boat migrants since the beginning of 2014.

"We must remember that Germany already took in more than one million migrants in 2015. If it also takes in some of our (refugees) ... the message will be extremely strong, because if Germany can do it, then so can all those who have not put in the huge effort that Germany already has," Alfano said.