Italy wants quicker refugee relocations across Europe; Only 133 of 40,000 have left Italy

An Iraqi refugee from Mosul holds up his daughter after their arrival on a small vessel with about 150 other refugees and migrants, from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Authorities in northwestern Turkey on Monday rounded up some 1,300 asylum seekers and migrants allegedly preparing to make their way into Greece. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) (The Associated Press)

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Volunteers help around 50 refugees and migrants to disembark from a vessel after their arrival from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Authorities in northwestern Turkey on Monday rounded up some 1,300 asylum seekers and migrants allegedly preparing to make their way into Greece. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios) (The Associated Press)

A man holds up a baby as stranded migrants protest in front of the border fence, demanding to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Hundreds of migrants are stranded on the Greek side after Macedonia blocked access to citizens of countries that are not being fast-tracked for asylum in the European Union. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) (The Associated Press)

ROME – The latest news as tens of thousands of people slip into Europe and head to wealthy European Union countries in search of a better life. All times local.

3:10 p.m.

Italy hopes the slow pace of relocating asylum-seekers to other European Union countries will quicken.

So far, only 133 of 40,000 asylum-seekers have been resettled from Italy, with the first departing in October. Interior Ministry official Riccardo Mattei said Tuesday that "mutual trust" must develop between sending and receiving countries for the EU program to succeed. He expressed hope that the number of asylum-seekers Italy relocates to other countries will double in the next few weeks.

Another ministry official, Simona Spinelli, dismissed that fears terrorists might use the relocation program to move between countries, saying the refugees undergo criminal background and fingerprint checks.

EU countries receive 6,000 euros in EU funds ($6,500) per each person resettled. Asylum-seekers who arrived in Greece and Hungary are also being resettled.