STRASBOURG: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday described as “obsolete” European Union asylum rules that put the onus on EU states where migrants first arrive to process their refugee claims.

“Let’s be frank. The Dublin process, in its current form, is obsolete,” Merkel said in a joint speech to the European Parliament with French President Francois Hollande.

Meanwhile, police said on Wednesday they had broken up an international criminal organization smuggling migrants and refugees through Greece, one of the main gateways into the European Union.

Officers arrested 12 people from Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria in raids on apartments and other locations across Athens early on Sunday and confiscated hundreds of fake identity cards, passports and other documents, the force said.

The smugglers were divided into six units which helped migrants travel from Turkey via the Greek island of Kos on to Macedonia and Italy on planes, buses and trains, the statement said.

Police attached an organization chart of at least 30 suspects, plus an unknown number of associates in Turkey, drawn up after what they called one of their biggest operations against people smugglers.

The gang gave fake asylum registration documents to migrants arriving on Kos in exchange for about 3,000 euros ($3,400) each, the police added.