In practice, two massive problems have made a nonsense of this law. One is that it imposes such a burden on the “front line” states where most asylum seekers arrive, notably Italy, Malta and Greece, that they do all they can to evade the law, by moving the refugees on to be “processed” in other countries, which are then responsible for them. The other is that most asylum seekers have no wish to remain in southern Europe anyway. They are only too happy not to be “processed” until they reach the richer countries to the north, such as Germany, Sweden or Britain, where they hope to settle.