The European Commission on Wednesday proposed quotas to redistribute migrants arriving on the continent's southern shores and to directly resettle 20,000 people in need of protection, as part of a strategy to tackle immigration.

The European Union is a sought-after destination for people fleeing conflict and persecution or looking for a better life.

Many migrants undertake perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea, which not all survive.

The issue took on new urgency last month after a shipwreck in which more than 800 migrants are thought to have drowned, making it the worst such incident to date.