Photo: Syrian refugees make their way along the highway towards the Turkish-Bulgarian border in Edirne, Turkey, on September 15, 2015 (AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic)

(VOVworld) - European Union interior ministers held a new emergency meeting on the bloc's migration crisis on Tuesday, after they failed to reach a deal on relocating thousands of refugees this week.  Luxembourg, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, said the aim of the extraordinary meeting was to get ministers to approve plans for the redistribution of 120,000 refugees currently in Greece, Italy and Hungary.

Prior to the meeting, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed his deep concerns about the deteriorating situation facing refugees and migrants arriving across Europe. He appealed to all EU leaders to show leadership and compassion. He called on them to forge a common approach in line with their international obligations and to honor the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter.

The EU remains strongly divided over plans to deal with the biggest-ever migration crisis since WWII as thousands of people are pushed from border to border.

A Home affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday will be hoping to forge a consensus ahead of an emergency meeting of EU leaders on Wednesday.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that nearly 500,000 have tried to cross the Mediterranean to find their way to Europe, 3000 of whom lost their lives on the way.