The EU's migration system is just ten days from 'completely breaking down' if it does not curb the number of people arriving in Europe, the bloc's migration commissioner has warned.
Europe has until a March 7 summit with Turkey to restrict the flow of refugees into the continent or face a melt down in the EU's migration set up, according to Dimitris Avramopoulos.
He told a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels today: 'In the next 10 days, we need tangible and clear results on the ground. Otherwise there is a risk that the whole system will completely break down.'
The EU remains deeply divided over how to handle the migrant crisis, especially over recent border closures by several member states that have threatened the passport-free Schengen area. Refugees are pictured lining up for food on the Greek-Macedonian border
Syrian refugees, who tried to go to Greek island of Chios, are seen in a boat after they were caught by Turkish Coast Guard
The boat was picked up near the Ciftlikkoy area in the Cesme district of Turkey. The migrants were returned to Turkey, failing in their attempt to cross on this occasion
Migrants are helped by volunteers after their arrival on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to Mytilene, Lesbos island, Greece today
Today the French courts gave permission for part of the Jungle (pictured) to be demolished, forcing people into the new temporary housing near the camp, in Calais
A Kurdish migrant pushes a pram with her children through a muddy area in the southern part of the Jungle
It comes as the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras warned his country was turning into 'a warehouse of souls' as more and more nations close their borders to migrants.
Tsipras spoke out ahead of EU talks aimed at reducing the flow of refugees through the Balkans and as Germany was warned to expect 2.5million more migrants in the next four years.
Tearful: A Syrian Kurdish migrant hugs a young child after their arrival with others at Mytilene
Rescue: Hundreds of migrants continue to arrive by boat after crossing to Greece from Turkey
Refugees and migrants queue up for food rations at the transit centre for refugees near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce
A man sits at the refugee centre near northern Macedonian village of Tabanovce, waiting for permission to cross the into Serbia
A young boy carries blankets on his head as he finally crosses into Macedonia from Greece on Thursday
A girl and her brother wait at the reception centre for migrants and refugees in Schisto, near Athens, where 1,300 migrants, mainly Afghans, are stranded
His warning came as it emerged German people will have to brace for another 2.5 million refugees arriving in the country over the next four years.
The figures were drawn up by the economics ministry in Berlin and show the vast numbers still to come if there remains no change in the open-door policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Süddeutsche newspaper in Munich said the internal report drawn up for bureaucrats struggling to cope with the one million-plus who have arrived over the last 13 months was leaked to it.
German leaders are now talking of cutting budgets - despite record tax earnings - to pay for the housing, education, clothing, feeding and policing of the migrants.
'Money for other things we might want is simply not there, even if the numbers look different at first sight,' said junior finance minister Jens Spahn. 'The entire surplus is completely reserved for financing the refugee crisis.'
With a further 3.6 million refugees on the way, the record €19.4 billion budget surplus the government took in last year in taxes will soon be eroded.
Two Pakistani migrants tried to hang themselves in Victoria Square, Athens, Greece, in protest over delays in their planned travel to the north of the country
An elderly refugee in a wheel chair waits along with other migrants at the Athens port of Piraeus this morning
A girl carries her toys in a plastic crate after arriving in Athens from one of the Greek islands, having survived the dangerous journey
Children play as refugees and migrants, mostly from Afghanistan, wait in a queue to receive food distributed by the Greek army at a transit camp in the western Athens' suburb of Schisto
The Greek Prime Minister spoke out ahead of EU talks aimed at reducing the flow of refugees through the Balkans. A woman is pictured at a camp site on the Greek-Macedonian border
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (centre) casts her vote during an asylum debate as part of a meeting of the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany today
'Refugee numbers have to sink, or else we won't be able to manage any more,' said finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble.
The economic ministry's Internal figures are based on around 500,000 people arriving every year between 2016 and 2020. A spokesman later said the figures are estimates and that a true picture is 'impossible' to paint.
News of a new wave of refugees arriving plays directly into the hands of the far right which is gathering strength, particularly among communities with high numbers of migrants housed among them.
Police overtime bills are spiking all over the country as officers struggle to protect facilities housing asylum seekers from firebomb attacks, threats and physical attacks against individuals.
Regional elections in three German states next month will see successes for the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party and a hammering for Mrs. Merkel's conservatives.
Refugees and migrants arrive aboard the Diagoras passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece
Waiting in line: Greece is turning 'into a warehouse of souls' as more countries close their borders to migrants, Alexis Tsipras has warned
Ministers from non-EU members Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey will also be in Brussels as the European Union reaches outside the borders of the 28-nation bloc in a desperate attempt to deal with the stream of people. Migrants are pictured waiting in Athens, Greece
Children wait with other migrants and refugees to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, northern Greece
Today, ministers from non-EU members Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey will also be in Brussels as the European Union reaches outside the borders of the 28-nation bloc in a desperate attempt to deal with the stream of people.
The talks come a day after Austria warned the EU's future was at stake at a meeting of Balkan states in Vienna from which an angry Greece was excluded, and after Hungary announced a referendum on refugee quotas.
Greece on Thursday recalled its ambassador in Vienna, the country's foreign ministry said, after Austria excluded it from a meeting of Balkan states on Europe's migrant crisis.
The move to recall the envoy for consultations was designed to 'safeguard friendly relations between the states and the people of Greece and Austria', a statement from the ministry said.
The EU remains deeply divided over how to handle the migrant crisis, especially over recent border closures by several member states that have threatened the passport-free Schengen area.
The EU issued a stern warning on Tuesday that a 'humanitarian crisis' was looming, especially in Greece, and that it was 'concerned' by developments on the Balkans route
The crisis ratcheted up at the weekend after Macedonia closed its Greek border to Afghans because countries further up the route were turning back groups from that country
Light relief: A migrant plays with his child as migrants and refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian borde
'We want all the contacts on Thursday to allow us to avoid surprises - we have to avoid that one country is surprised by the measures taken by another,' said a source from the current Netherlands presidency of the EU.
Austria in particular has caused anger in the EU by announcing that it will cap asylum applications at 80 a day, saying it is overwhelmed by the numbers coming up through the Balkans from Greece.
Thursday's Brussels meetings will start with a working breakfast between the ministers from Serbia, Macedonia and the EU countries on the main Western Balkans route for migrants and refugees to reach northern Europe.
The EU issued a stern warning on Tuesday that a 'humanitarian crisis' was looming, especially in Greece, and that it was 'concerned' by developments on the Balkans route.
Brussels was also 'coordinating a contingency planning effort, to offer support in case of a humanitarian crisis both outside and within the EU', it said.
The crisis ratcheted up at the weekend after Macedonia closed its Greek border to Afghans because countries further up the route were turning back groups from that country.
A child sits on bags and waits while refugees form a line behind her to receive food handouts at the port of Piraeus
A Syrian man holds his son as they arrive with refugees and migrants on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to Mytilen
Long road ahead: A Syrian woman cries as she talks to her relatives after her arrival with other refugees and migrants from the Turkish coast to Greece
Greece is the arrival point for around four fifths of the huge flow of people fleeing war and poverty who are arriving in Europe - mainly via Turkey - in the worst crisis of its kind to face Europe for more than half a century.
One hundred thousand migrants have already arrived this year and more than a million last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Greece has been threatened with effective suspension from the frontier-free Schengen zone if it does not do more to stop waving through migrants to other countries, and improve reception and registration conditions for refugees who land on its soil.
The EU's Dublin regulations say that migrants must apply for asylum in the first country they land in but this system is set for an overhaul in the coming months as it has proved unworkable.
Turkey's deputy interior minister will meet ministers from all 28 EU states at the main talks later on Thursday, as the EU pushes Ankara on a deal aimed at cutting the number of arrivals.
Turkey and the EU signed a deal in November under which Ankara agreed to curb the number of refugees crossing to Greece in return for three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid and the speeding up of its EU membership bid.
An EU-Turkey summit on the deal will take place on March 7.
No comments:
Post a Comment