Refugee Crisis
As thousands of refugees and migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and other countries in crisis move west and north through Europe, they are encountering a new set of obstacles and humiliations. Follow live coverage of the crisis from CBC's foreign correspondents.
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German policemen register refugees at the rail station in Freilassing on Monday before taking them away in busses. Germany introduced temporary border controls Sunday to stem the tide of refugees streaming across its border, sending a message to its European partners that it needs more help with an influx that is straining its ability to cope. (Kerstin Joensson/Associated Press)
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Roszke, #Hungary: Local volunteers have come w/water, chocolates &fruits from their farms including apples & peaches http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO3htueUwAA4Euc.jpg
by Babar Baloch via twitter 9/14/2015 2:05:18 PM -
- Associated Press
Germany's new border checks have caused traffic jams as long as 20 kilometres on highways in Austria.
Austrian highway operator Asfinag said the longest traffic jam Monday was at Suben on the A8 highway near the German city of Passau, according to the Austria Press Agency. There was also a 10-kilometre traffic jam on the A10 highway at Salzburg at one point.
Germany says refugees will still be welcomed into the country regardless of the border controls it introduced late Sunday but they will come in a more orderly manner. - Associated Press
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- Associated Press
The Canadian Red Cross says it's sending thousands of cots and blankets to Germany to help the German Red Cross deal with the massive influx of refugees and other migrants.
The Canadian Red Cross said it was sending more than 10,000 cots and a similar number of blankets that the German Red Cross would use at camps and reception centres, where it has been providing assistance.
Canadian Red Cross CEO and President Conrad Suave visited camps in Germany over the past week and said much more aid would be needed.
He said in a statement that "a collaborative approach involving countries, humanitarian actors and the global community is needed to respond to ever-growing needs." - Associated Press
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- Associated Press
European Union nations have agreed on an initial relocation of some 32,000 refugees away from Italy and Greece to other nations in the bloc.
The total still stops short of the 40,000 initially sought, and is only a small part of the relocation of another 120,000 refugees under discussion Monday at an extraordinary meeting of EU interior
ministers in Brussels.
Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg said the first relocations could start "quickly." The EU nations had already agreed in principle on the number last July. - Associated Press
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Syrian refugees' window for a storybook ending in Europe may be closing
As new laws and border controls come into effect in Europe, time is running out for Syrian refugees hoping to reunite their families there. -
Hungary shuts down main border crossing for asylum seekers. Army is on site. #cbc #refugeecrisis http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO4VoSPUAAEDuWs.jpg
by Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/14/2015 5:25:14 PM -
- Thomson Reuters
Austria says Monday it will dispatch the armed forces to help impose additional controls on
its eastern border, belatedly following Germany's example as
thousands of migrants streamed across its frontier from Hungary
on foot. The Austrian government initially said on Sunday it would
not introduce new checks after Germany announced its own, which
effectively suspended Europe's two-decade old Schengen regime
allowing border-free travel across the continent. - Thomson Reuters
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From Instagram: A Syrian refugee with a baby swims towards Lesbos, Greece, September 13th 2015 econ.st/1QAqbGt http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO4hXGDWsAAnugP.png
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EU to give Greece more resources to operate reception centres for refugees #cbc #refugeecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/14/2015 8:05:52 PM
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"Too early" for decision to be taken today on EU refugee quota...but majority support it. Aiming for adoption in Oct. #cbc #refugeecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/14/2015 8:07:33 PM
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Ministers agree to relocate 40,000 refugees as pre-existing proposal...but not yet the full 160,000. #cbc #refugeecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/14/2015 8:09:18 PM
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#pt majority agree with quota in principle, but must be left to EU parliament to vote. #cbc #refugecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/14/2015 8:27:21 PM
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Refugee crisis: Hungary expected to declare state of emergency
The Hungarian government is expected to declare a state of emergency due to the large number of refugees and others who have been entering the country. -
- Thomson Reuters
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was "deeply disappointed" at the failure of European Union ministers to reach a final consensus on a plan to share the relocation of 120,000 refugees.
"Decisive agreement is needed without further delay to address the needs, as is bold action based on solidarity from all member states," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
A majority of EU interior ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday, agreed in principle to share out 120,000 asylum seekers on top of some 40,000 distributed on a voluntary basis so far. But details of the deal, to be formalised on Oct. 8, were vague with several ex-Communist central European states still rejecting mandatory quotas. - Thomson Reuters
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- Thomson Reuters
The European Union must consider putting financial pressure on member states that are reluctant
to take in their share of asylum seekers as the bloc faces its worst refugee crisis in decades, Germany's interior minister said on Tuesday.
In a veiled threat to eastern European states that have resisted EU plans on sharing refugees, Thomas de Maiziere said these were the same countries that received development funding from the bloc. - Thomson Reuters
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Why Germany is taking in so many refugees - the benefits and risks
Germany stands to make some big gains by adopting refugees, but the decision also carries risk, says Oliver Schmidtke, director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. -
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Kilis is a city transformed by Syria's war. 90K Turks now share their community with 100K Syrians who have fled here. #CBC #RefugeeCrisisby Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 9:47:19 AM -
Nour, 11, wants to leave #Turkey & join her uncle in Germany. But she's scared of the dangerous journey by sea. #CBC http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO7ev3iUcAAbeDH.jpg
by Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 9:47:25 AM -
No running water for many Syrian families living in Kilis, #Turkey. Most here can't afford to flee to #Europe. #CBC http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO7St0QWgAAmNHf.jpg
by Derek Stoffel via twitter 9/15/2015 9:47:48 AM -
- Associated Press
After failure of EU interior ministers to agreed on redistribution of 120,000 refugees and migrants, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said Tuesday that "Europe made a fool of itself again yesterday."
He added: "Europe's heads of state and government must meet quickly, because this cannot peter out in such ministerial meetings so that we don't move one step further."
Gabriel said that "what we are experiencing now threatens Europe much more than the Greek crisis." - Associated Press
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More than 500 000 migrants detected at EU external borders in first 8 months of 2015. bit.ly/FX-Aug http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO72Y63UcAAdRZO.jpg
by Frontex via twitter 9/15/2015 9:53:02 AM -
In Aug, 156,000 migrants crossed EU borders, making this 5th consecutive monthly record bit.ly/FX-Aug http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CO749LAXAAAP7ri.jpg
by Frontex via twitter 9/15/2015 10:00:52 AM -
- Associated Press
The International Organization for Migration is predicting more deaths in the Aegean Sea and increased strains on Greece because of EU "indecision" about how to handle an influx of migrants and refugees to Europe.
IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle said Tuesday that decisions by some European countries to clamp down travel across their borders might have a "domino effect" and affect countries like Greece, where it's harder to stop people -- mostly Syrian refugees -- from crossing from the Turkish coast.
Some migrants have called into an anti-human trafficking phone hotline set up by IOM while they are treading water in the Aegean. - Associated Press
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Turkey's private Dogan media agency said Tuesday that 22 people, including four children, drowned after 20-metre wooden boat sank off the Turkish coast, The Associated Press reported.
Dogan reported that 211 people were rescued from the water between Datca, Turkey and the Greek island of Kos.
The latest sinking came two days after 34 people, including 15 children drowned off the Greek island of Farmakoniss. Another 100 people were rescued. -
Greek islands again saw biggest number of detections in Aug at 88 000, 11-fold rise from same month last year bit.ly/FX-Augby Frontex via twitter 9/15/2015 10:15:08 AM
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West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside' gu.com/p/4cbex/stw #cbc #refugeecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/15/2015 10:47:24 AM
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- Thomson Reuters
Serbia is talking to the Hungarian government about the buildup of migrants on their frontier, a Serbian government minister said on Tuesday, adding Budapest would "have to open the border."
Aleksandar Vulin, Serbia's minister in charge of tackling the migrant crisis, did not elaborate. "We are talking to the Hungarians," he told Reuters at the border, where crowds of migrants were growing after Hungary sealed its southern frontier. "They will have to open the border," he said. - Thomson Reuters
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Hungary will send refugees bk to Serbia if they didn't make asylum claims there. But Serbia says it wont take them back #cbc #refugeecrisisby Ellen Mauro via twitter 9/15/2015 11:23:11 AM
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Austria may soon be short of emergency shelters for refugees coming into the country, Associated Press reports.
Austrian Interior Ministry say it had 20,000 places across the country as of Monday night, while 19,700 people needed shelter. The ministry said another 4,000 people arrived as of midday Tuesday. -
#Migrant deaths in Mediterranean increase dramatically.Since the weekend,72 died in attempt to cross Greek islands ow.ly/Se7Zeby IOM via twitter 9/15/2015 11:54:29 AM -
Hungary declares state of emergency on southern border giving police wider powers #CBC #refugeecrisisby Nahlah Ayed via twitter 9/15/2015 12:05:05 PM
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- Associated Press
Poland's prime minister says the country will receive refugees fleeing for their lives with an "open heart" but will expect them to return home when their countries are safe.
Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said Tuesday that Poland is reviewing its capacity to host refugees and will likely take in more than the 2,000 it said it would. But she gave no new figure. The European Union wants Poland to take in about 12,000 people.
"We will shelter them while the situation at home threatens their life or health," Kopacz said. "We cannot guarantee that we will take in the people arriving in Europe forever." - Associated Press
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- Associated Press
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she doesn't favour threatening other European Union nations in the migration crisis after her interior minister raised the idea of cutting EU funding to
those that don't take in refugees.
Merkel said after meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann Tuesday that "we must try to restore a European spirit." She added: "I don't think that threats are the right way to an agreement." - Associated Press
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, left, speak to reporters after a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday. Merkel said Germany and Austria are calling for a special European Union summit next week to discuss the continent’s migration crisis. (Michael Sohn/Associated Press)
